Aria and Ezra's book of dares
by Artistard3
Summary: Their love started with a red moleskin notebook lying on the shelf in a cozy bookstore. "I've left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If not, put the notebook back, please."
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place before and during Aria was in Rosewood. Ezra is still her teacher, and the beginning takes place about 3 weeks before school starts, they got back to rosewood early. Her friends are still on vacation in various places.

~Aria P.O.V~

Over the past 4 days, I've taken the silly pink stripes out of my hair, gotten contacts, and updated my wardrobe a little bit, with my birthday money. I guess you could say I've gained a little bit of self confidence. While I was shopping I also bought a red moleskin notebook along with a new diary. It just looked cool, and it was pretty cheap. I've had this favorite bookstore since I was a little girl that's a couple blocks away from my house, and I used to sit in there and read to my hearts desire. Thats where I got the moleskin. I tore off the price sticker after I bought them and I wrote "open if you dare." In sharpie. I took out a pen and started writing down books and pages after a while, when I was done with my thought, I slipped it in between my favorite books, two copies of to kill a mockingbird. Maybe someone will find it.

~Ezra P.O.V~

Ever since I started college at Hollis, I've loved coming to this bookstore. I love being able to read however and whatever what I want. I was going to check out my favorite book 'to kill a mockingbird', so I went to find it, and in between the two copies, I saw a red moleskin notebook. I take it off the shelf, and It read "Open if you dare." I guess I dared because I opened it.

On the first page it says:

I've left some clues for you.

If you want them, turn the page. If you don't, put the notebook back, please.

I flip the page. It says:

"Color psychology

65/14/34"

I go to the person sitting at a desk, and ask if they know what it means. "Can you help me find the book color psychology?" I ask. No reply. "Can you at least tell me the author?" He scratches his elbow and glance at his computer. "Are you wearing some kind of invisible headphones? Nope. Nothing. "Do I know you?" I persisted. "Did I grind to a pulp in kindergarten? Are you the boy whose lunch money I stole? Little max?" I joke, trying to get him to answer me. I finally get a response when he shakes his head. "No?" I ask. "I am not allowed to give you the location of said book. Not to you, not to anyone." He says. "And although I am not little max, you should be ashamed of yourself. Ashamed." He says, ignoring me after that.

I guess I have to do this on my own. What could "Color psychology 65/14/34" mean?Well it's definitely not a date, that's for sure. I walk up to the psychology section of the books upstairs, and skim until I find a book called color psychology. I think I read something once about opening up a page, a line, and then a word to get an idea of a plot of a story to write. So thats exactly what I do. I open up to page 65, line 14, and since there's no 34th word, I go to the 3rd and 4th word which says "Are you" I turn the page of the moleskin, confused, it says:

If you're smart enough to figure out the beginning of the sentence, I want you to continue playing, and if you're some freaky 60 year old man, I politely ask you to put the moleskin back where you found it.

The joys of gay sex

13/6/7 -10

Well I'm only 23, almost 24, so I can continue to play. I sigh. If I want to figure out what this is, I need to look in the sexuality section. I walk over to that section and try to find a book that says "the joys of gay sex." I find page 13, line 6, and words 7-10. It stays "planning on playing"

Are you planning on playing? Is what they say together. I turn the page of the moleskin.

You most likely wouldn't have turned the page if you were really gay, you would still be looking though "the joys of gay sex." And if you are a young straight boy who was brave enough to do it, than I thank you. If you have gotten this far, and you want to continue, please give the moleskin to the lady at the front desk, after you write your happiest summer memory on the next page. No one will read it but me. I promise. Go to the ice cream place across the street tomorrow, and leave the notebook under the flap of the chair near the bathrooms thats fabric flips up. No one will take it. I hope to talk to you soon. 3 ? (You'll get to learn my name soon.)

I flip the page, and take out the pen I always carry with me. Then I start to write. After I finish, I give it to the lady at the front desk who has a name tag that says "Natalie." She says "Thank you." And puts it in her purse.

~Aria P.O.V~

I wake up really early and I call Natalie and tell her I'm coming to pick the moleskin up.I met Natalie when I first started coming to this bookstore, and we talk a lot. We're not really friends, because she's 43 and already has some kids, but she's the only one that knows about my moleskin plan.

I take my moleskin and I go back home to read in privacy. It just seems right. He has a lazy scrawl kind of handwriting, but I like it. I wonder if he actually looks like how I'm imagining him in my mind. I flip to the page where he started writing. It says:

"My happiest summer memory. I used to live in New York before I moved here. My parents got divorced when I was little, and My brother got really depressed. My happiest memory was before the divorce, before my brother became depressed, before they started fighting. When I was about 7, I loved the beach. I loved everything about it. I just liked being there. My aunt took me on a trip to Florida to go to the beach with my cousin. My brother got to go to an amusement park with his friends, and my mom. He was about 6. Anyways, while I was there, I got to get away from everything. It was so nice. Even though I was so little I remember everything clearly. That was the happiest summer memory. What was yours?" -? (: (I'll tell you my name when you tell me yours.)

I grab a pen from my desk and I start writing. When I'm done, I take it to the ice cream shop across the bookstore. While I'm there, I also get some ice cream, because I mean.. It's ice cream. Why not? I leave the notebook under the fabric of the chair, and I drive home. All of my friends aren't here so I watch tv until my family comes home.

~Ezra P.O.V~

I walk into the ice cream shop, and I get a cone of it because I can, before I walk all the way back to the table where I see the corner of the red moleskin sticking out. I sit down at the table and I read her response.

"My happiest summer memory would also probably have to be when I was little. I caught my dad having an affair with a student of his, and he asked me to keep it a secret from her mom, and then that summer, my best friend was murdered, and then my dad picked us up and we moved to Iceland for a year on his sabbatical. So I guess these past couple of years haven't been the best for me, especially during the summer when you're supposed to be having fun. When I was about 11 my mom took me to France for the first time. It was really fun being able to spend a lot of time with just her. I guess I felt closer to her for some reason. It was so pretty, and peaceful, and I think that was one of the first moments I felt happy for a while.

I feel like I need to tell you something. I want my life to have meaning. I want my life to have a purpose. I want to believe there is a somebody out there just for me. I want to believe that I exist to be there for that somebody.

Maybe I just want your opinion on the matter. I just don't really know you yet. Tell me about anything on your mind. I want to know. Oh, and I also want to know what you like to do in your free time. Tomorrow, go see the lion king in 3D, and leave the notebook under the huge sign by the door. Thanks, ?. -?"

Ezra P.O.V:

After I read it, I get to work, writing a reply before bringing it home to take it with me to the movies tomorrow.

~Aria P.O.V~

I get my notebook from under the sign after I see my movie, and I drive to Starbucks, because a) I want coffee and b) I don't want to write In the middle of a movie theater. That's weird. After I get my drink, I sit down and start reading.

"I guess I'm kind of nervous about my first teaching job. That's what's been on my mind lately. I agree with you. On what you said about wanting to believe there's someone out there for you. You just need to find it. But I promise you, they're there.

In my free time, I think the best thing ever is to read a good book. My favorite book, to kill a mockingbird is a good one. I imagine you like that book too because you're the one who put a notebook in between them. I also write. Poems, and stuff. Sometimes feelings. I haven't gotten very far yet. I think that words can paint pictures in your head in the best ways possible. I feel like we have this connection, and I'm dying to get to know you better, but I don't even know your name. I want to continue with this whole notebook exchange thing. Leave the notebook at the Starbucks around the corner. Give it to the dude with a blue hat who's running the register.

Okay, so what I really want to know is what you want. It doesn't have to be a physical thing, but just tell me what you're dying to have. -E. (my name starts with an E. that's all you get so far.) "

I take out a pen from my bag, and I start to write. I leave the notebook there for him.

~Ezra P.O.V~

I go back to the movies to pick the notebook up and I take it back with me to my apartment.

I start to read it as soon as I get back home.

"What I really want - and what I never get - is to be appreciated. Do you know what it's like to work so hard to make sure everyone's happy, and to have not a single person recognize it, or stop to ask me if I'm alright from time to time? Ever since my dads affair, it's been really hard to try and act like I'm okay keeping his secret, because I love my mom, and she deserves better than him, but I don't want them to start fighting, because that will mess my brother up. Big time.

I feel like you may be a special and kind person. And I would like to make it my business to know special and kind people.

I don't know what else to say because it's really hard to answer a question you haven't been asked.

So I'll leave it at that.

?.

P.s. Tell me about the meanest person you've ever come into contact with. It can be anybody. Go to the Macy's on the corner across the street from the only blockbusters still open. Find the pile of gloves and leave the notebook behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

~Ezra p.o.v~  
I've been writing in the notebook for the past hour and a half, and then I finally walk inside of macy's, and right near the front of the store, I see the pile of gloves that the mystery girl was talking about. I shove the notebook in the back and I go back to my apartment to read a new book.

~Aria p.o.v~  
I make my way into Macy's hoping that he left the notebook where I told him to. I get to the pile of gloves and after a couple of minutes of digging, I find my moleskin. I drive to the park and sit outside. Since it's nice out, why waste it?

I flip to the newest page to read what the mystery guy said.

"The meanest person I ever came into contact with was my mother. It still is my mother. I absolutely hate her. Ever since my parents got divorced when I was about 12, my parents, especially my mom has lost all emotions that she ever had. My parents both cheated on eachother. But it wasn't the infidelity that killed the marriage. It was their own fault. For being so selfish. I cannot stand being around her. It's like she doesn't want me to be happy, or something. That's why i moved here. To Rosewood. To escape my mother and her money. I just don't understand. All the hardest, coldest people you ever meet were once as soft as water. That's the tragedy of living.

I knock on the door, with butterflies in my stomach, waiting for him to get it. I see a man open the door. A very hot man. That just so happens to be my English teacher! "Hi I'm Ez-" he starts to say. "Holy shit." We say simultaneously. Both of us are at loss for words. "Well this is awkward." He mumbles after a minute of staring at each other. "Come in." He adds, rubbing the back of his neck, something he told me he does when he's nervous, or in an awkward situation.

"Aria.. I.. I don't know what to do? I've never been in a situation like this before." He says. "Me either!" I say. After a while of silence, something happened. "I think I'm in love with you." He admits. "You don't even know me." I say. "I know you well enough." He laughs, giving me a boyish smile. I've never really realized how hot he looks. Maybe it's because he's wearing jeans and a t- shirt, not a teacherly sweater vest. "But I don't think this is smart." He sighs. "But you said-" I start to say. "I know what I said. But this is too dangerous, Aria. It just can't work. I'm sorry." He says, sighing. I feel tears well up In my eyes. "I hate you." I say, as I feel the years drip down my cheek. I grab my purse and storm out. "Aria, wait!" I hear him call, but I just walk even faster. I can't do this right now. I have no clue what I'm gonna do. School is tomorrow, so I have to see him again.


	3. Chapter 3

**(This is cussing in it btw.)**

~Aria P.O.V~

I met my friends early at school in "Mr. Fitz's" room to talk. "So what do you all think about Mr. Fitz so far? We haven't gotten a new teacher here in a while." Emily says, trying to make conversation. I liked him, until yesterday. I bite my tongue so I don't say anything stupid. We're talking about to kill a mocking bird in class, what a coincidence.

At the end of class, ezra asks me to stay behind for a minute. "Aria. I need to tell you something." He says. "No, I need to tell you something, asshole!"I whisper scream. He doesn't say anything. "I hate you. I hate you because I love you so much, and you won't even give us a chance. I spent months writing to you about secrets that I've never told anybody in this stupid fucking notebook." I throw the notebook at him, and it hits him in the chest. "Aria-" he says. "Fuck you! I thought you were different." I feel tears well up in my eyes. "Shut the fuck up! Oh my lord. I've been trying to tell you. I changed my mind." He says. "You did?" I ask, awkwardly. "I can't live without you. Knowing that you're my soulmate." He blushes. "Come over after school. Let's start over." He says. "deal." I grin, scurrying off to my next class.


	4. Chapter 4

~Aria's P.O.V~  
"Come in." Ezra grins after I knock on his apartment door. "Thank you so much. And I'm sorry I yelled at you." I say. "It's okay. I'm sorry I was such a jerk." He says, taking my coat from me.  
We both sit on the couch. "I know this is dangerous Aria, and I know it's a really stupid decision, but I can't ignore these feelings that have drawn me closer to you. It doesn't matter that we met by a notebook anonymously. All that matters is that I want to get to know you better, I want to fall in love with you. Even though I'm pretty sure I already have." He smirks. I smile at him. "Okay. Thanks for giving us another chance." I say. We talk for about 2 hours, and tell stories, and it was truly magical. And the best part was at the end when we kissed. I legitimately felt sparks. We exchanged phone numbers because the last time I was here, we kind if fought and I never even got that much information. "Can I look around a little bit? The last time I was here, I didn't really get to see everything?" I ask nosily. "Sure. Go right ahead." He chuckles. "Will you give me the tour?" I ask, jokingly. He just laughs. He points out things and we talk about a lot of the books on his book shelf, and other stuff. He shows me his music too, and I cannot believe I've found the perfect guy for me, except he's about 7 years older, and my teacher.

It's been about 4 months since ezra invited me over to his apartment for the second time, and we've gotten to know each other quite well. We've said "I love you" and everything. I mean I know we already knew about each other from the notebook, but I've never been in a relationship that is so honest. (Not paying attention to the part where I have to lie to my friends and family about it, though. That's completely different.)

Spencer's family always goes on a trip during the winter break from school, and it's been tradition that Hanna, Emily, (Alison went twice), and I always go. Last year, we went to England, the year before that, we went to France, and the year before that, we went to Australia. Let's just say that the Hastings family doesn't need any help with money anytime soon. This year, we're going to Italy, and I'm really excited. It's for a week, though. I never told ezra where I'm going but I'll just visit him next week.

We boarded the plane, all four of us sitting together, (I sat by spencer, and Emily and Hanna sat in front of us) and Spencer's mom, dad, and sister were siting somewhere else.  
Spencer and I read books and slept, and Emily and Hanna listened to music and slept. It was a really long ride, but the minute we got to our hotel, it was so beautiful. The four of us shared a room because it's tradition. We went to a couple of museums the first day, which Hanna didn't particularly like, but she kept the complaining to a minimum because she was still grateful that Spencer's parents actually paid for everything. After the second day, we split off from Spencer's family for a day full of shopping, and eventually lunch. We went into this really nice store, and I bought a red tie for ezra as a gift from my trip because I wanted to. "Who's the tie for?" Hanna asks, curiously. "Uh.. Um.. My dad?" I lie. "It looks nice." She says, resuming her shopping. We decide to eat at this one restaurant that isn't too expensive because we aren't exactly as rich as spencer. It's still nice "Isn't that Mr. Fitz?" Hanna asks, confused, staring at ezra, walking in by himself. He orders a coffee, and sees us, furrows his eyebrows. "Girls? What are you all doing in Italy?" He asks, trying to make conversation. "Um, we're just here to visit for vacation. What about you?" Spencer asks, because she is better at "talking to adults in awkward situations". "Oh, um, I'm here visiting my brother and his family for a couple of days before going back to rosewood." He smiles. "That's cool." Emily says. "Yeah well listen. It was nice talking to you guys, see you later." He smiles, before picking up his To-go food and leaving. "That's weird." Hanna says. "Yep." I say, popping the p. After a day full of shopping, we decide to go back to the hotel. On our walk back (we haven't rented a car yet. It's on our list of things to do.), my phone rings. "Aria?" Ezra asks. "Hey. Can I call you back in a second? I'm almost back to the hotel." I say. "Yeah okay. Bye." He says. We take the elevator up to our room, and I go inside the bathroom for privacy. I call ezra back, and he answer on the third or fourth ring. "Hey, Aria." He says. "Hey. Listen. I'm sorry I never told you I was gonna be in Italy. I had no idea you were to." I apologized. "It's, okay Aria." He laughs. "I was wondering if you wanted to meet me at my hotel for a little while?" "It depends. Which one are you staying at?" I ask. "The one right across from the restaurant you guys were at today. It's about 15 minutes away." "Yeah okay." I agree. "Do you want me to pick you up?" He asks. "Yeah. I'm at the Sant'Anna Hotel..." I explain directions how to get here from the restaurant. "Okay. I'll be there in about 15 minutes." "Thanks. I love you." I say. "Love you too. See you then."

I unlock the door. "We don't have a curfew.. Right?" I ask Spencer. "Well no, I don't know but.. Where are you going?" She asks. "One of my old friends from Iceland moved here and I wanted to see him before we left." I lie. "Yeah okay, as long as you come back before like 9:00 in the morning.. That's when my parents are going to pick us up so we can go on an official tour of Italy tomorrow morning." "Oh okay. I'll be back. I don't know if I'm sleeping over yet, but I'll let you all know." I say, as I put a change of clothes In my purse, just in case.

"I'm here". Ezra texts me. "Okay meet you outside." I reply. "Okay, they're picking my up. I love you guys, see you in the morning, or maybe later tonight." I say. I meet ezra outside, and he drives me to his hotel, which is also really nice. Once we close the door of his hotel room, and I set my stuff down, I kiss ezra. "I've missed you so much." He says, between each peck. It gets really hot real fast, and he's holding my hands up against the wall. As our tongues dance, I can hear him moan a little bit, which encourages me to slip off his shirt. I rub my hands all over his abs, and it actually makes me wet. I haven't thought about ezra in a sexual way until now, something about being here together at this very moment, affected something about the way I think. I jump up higher, and wrap my legs around him, and grind on him a little as we kiss. "Ariaaa" He groans. I slip off my shirt, leaving myself in a lacy undershirt thing.  
I hop off of him, grab his arm, and pull him towards the bed. "I don't know what your intentions are, but I don't think you've fully thought this out." He says, realizing what I'm trying to get him to do. I lace our fingers together. "I'm not a Virgin, Ezra." I say, looking down. "You're not?" He asks. "I'm sorry. It happened in Iceland. It was stupid of me." "Don't apologize, Aria." He squeezes my hands. "I really want to have sex with you ezra. I can't take it anymore." I blush really, really red. "Don't you want your first time, at least with me to be really memorable and special?" He asks, staring into my eyes. "It will be, ezra. We're in Italy, together, and I trust you. I love you." I say. "Are you sure?" "Yes I'm sure." I smile at how caring he is about me. "I love you so much." He says, staring into my eyes, gently kissing me. "I love you too." I say, staring back at him. "if you don't want to, you can tell me to stop, and I will." "No. I want to." I breath. He puts on protection and about 40 minutes later, after some activities occurred, we end the night, with tangled body parts, sleeping naked, and wrapped around each other.

In the morning, at about 7:00, I wake up, and Ezra's still asleep, I kind of play fully grind against him, but his hands hold me in place. "Aria, don't tease me." He laughed. "Who said anything about teasing? I ask playfully. "I'm going to go take a shower, and I was wondering if you would like to join me?" "Okay, Ms. Montgomery. If you insist." After I'm dressed, Ezra stops for coffee, and I get coffee for the girls also, before dropping me off at my hotel, at about 8:30 ish. "I love you. Call me if you need anything." He says. "I love you too. Last night was amazing. Thank you so much," I say as I happily. He just grins.

"Hey." I walk into the hotel room, sipping my still semi-hot coffee, holding a tray of theirs. "Hey. Have fun last night?" Emily asks. "Yeah. It was really fun." I grin. "That's good. We're going on a bus tour today, and thanks." Spencer says as I pass out the coffee.

**Authors note: What do you all want to happen on the bus tour? How should I incorporate ezra into this? I need ideas :) and thank you so much for reading this. I hope you all like it.**


	5. Chapter 5

I walk with Hanna, Emily, Spencer, Melissa, and her Spencer's mom and dad, and we get on to the bus for the bus tour. My grandmother said that when she went to Italy before she died, her favorite part was the Roman Coliseum, and that's what I'm looking forward to the most. We plan to stop at 10 different cities, so that means we're going to be on the bus all day long. We're stoping for lunch at the 5th stop, so technically, it's just 9 stops. Anyway, we got really good seats, and we're all together. We don't really mind. I mean, I know Spencer does.. But I can't change that.

We're visiting 10 cities on the bus tour:  
•Venice  
•Florence  
•Cinque Terri  
•Sicily  
•Rome  
•Turin  
•Capri  
•Sorrento  
•Abruzzo  
•San Gigimano  
but I don't know how long it will take.

Venice, our first stop was really fun. It's a great city for families or lovers. I wish I could have been there with ezra. But maybe when I'm older we can come back. Probably not. Anyway, Venice is very beautiful. It has a lot of alleys, and pigeons. Florence has a lot of art. And food. We stopped for gelato. It was really good. We learned that's it's in Tuscany, aka the home of Italy's wine country. I was about to drink some wine, the kind I had in Iceland, but then I remembered I'm still 17, and I shouldn't be doing that. Cinque Terri was so breathtaking. We walked along a cliff that was overlooking the ocean, and it was so beautiful. It seems like Every little city in Sicily has it's own culture, and it was really cool. Turin didn't stick out to me as much. It had the Po river running right through it, but that's all I could remember. Our next stop is Rome, and we're driving to it right now. We explored the city a bit, and then stopped to get something to eat. We say down, at a big table. The restaurant was pretty cozy, and the tables were all really close together. Melissa met some guy who was sitting by himself, waiting for his family. She was giggling, and laughing, and I wasn't really paying attention. "Hey guys, this is Ezra. He was sitting by himself, waiting for his brother's family, and he said hems been waiting for about an hour, so I told him he could join us." Melissa says. My head slowly pops up when she says ezra. "Mr. Fitz?" Emily sees him first. "Hello Emily, Hanna, Spencer, Aria." He says, going down the row. We smile politely. Talk about awkward. "You know them?" Melissa asks. "Yeah." He clears his throat. "I'm their English teacher in rosewood." He smiles. "What are you doing in Italy?" Spencer's father ask. "I'm visiting my brother and his family." He says. Ezra's phone buzzes. "Excuse me for one second." He says, politely, walking outside. He comes back in. "I have to go. My brother is having some difficulties getting his kids to listen to him, so he rescheduled." Ezra explains. "You can eat with us." Melissa offers. "If that's alright with you." He says to Mrs. Hastings. "Of course, Ezra. Have a seat." Ezra pulls a chair up. I glance at him. I haven't talked to him since we had sex for the first time. This is really awkward.  
Throughout the meal, Melissa keeps flirting with him. I'm actually kind of jealous, even though ezra isn't flirting back. By the time we're done eating, Melissa asks him If he's doing anything the rest of the day, and he says no. "Would you like to finish the bus tour with us?" Melissa asks. "All we have left is Turin, Capri, Sorrento, Abruzzo, and San Gigimano. It's really beautiful." Melissa tells him. "Okay." He says, glancing at me. I bite my lip, and state at him. Mr. Hastings pays for everyone's meal including Ezra's. "Let's go, don't wanna be late," Mrs. Hastings says. We fill in the bus, and Spencer's mom and dad sit near the front, ezra faces back, talking to Melissa, and Hanna, Spencer, Emily and I sit near the back. The bus isn't even that big, so we can all hear each other anyway.

"So you're an English teacher, that's cool." Melissa says. "Yeah." Ezra half smiles. "I don't read much. I don't see the point. I mean, I read fashion magazines sometimes, but... I don't know." Melissa says. "Oh." Ezra makes this face like 'are you mother-fucking-serious?' And I actually almost snort. I hide the noise and grin. "So how's your brother and his family?" She changes the subject. "They're pretty good." Is all ezra says. "Ugh mr. Mr. Fitz is so hot," Hanna whispers to us. We all giggle. Even me. Because we all know it's true.

We stop at Turin, and Capri, and by the time we stop in the last three, it's pretty dark. We go back to Rome, because Ezra's car is there. I want to go back to his hotel to hang out or something, but I don't know what to say. "Spence. Would it be okay if I saw my friend from Iceland again before we leave?" I ask, "Their house is in Rome." "Yeah. Hey mom. Aria wants to see her friend from Iceland before she leaves Italy, is that okay? They live in Rome." Spencer tells her mother. "Go ahead honey. Do you want me to pick you up?" She asks. "Um, actually.. My hotel is in Rome, so if you wanted me to, I could bring Aria back to your hotel." Ezra interrupts. "Are you sure? I don't want to bother you." I say, because everyone is watching. "It's okay. Really." He says. "That's okay with me." "Here, I'll give you my number so you can text me to come and get you." Ezra says to me. He hands me a piece of paper and I stick it in my pocket. "Thanks so much." I say to him. I tell them to drop me off about 2 blocks from Ezra's hotel, and I walk the rest f the way there.

When I get there, I knock on the door. "Hey handsome." I grin, kissing him, and then walking in. "Hey beautiful." He grins back. "Well that was quite awkward. I hope no one noticed." I say. He just laughs. They didn't notice.

"What do you want to do?" He asks. "Can you just hold me?" I ask. "What's wrong?" He asks. "Nothing-I just really missed you, and not being able to talk to you like I usually do was so frustrating" I reply. We sit on the couch together, and he wraps his arms around me. I lean my forehead onto his chest, and I can hear and feel his heart.

He kisses my hairline. "Ezra?" I ask. "Yeah, Aria?" "I love you. So much." I say, looking into his eyes. "I love you too." I kiss him gently, and he kisses my neck. I moan when he continues kissing there, but I tell him to stop when I realize it's starting to make a mark. "Ezra. I think I should go back now." I say, glancing at the time on my phone. I've been here for over an hour.  
Once we get into his car, I text all the girls "I'm coming back now.-Aria." "How's the car ride with Fitz?" She asks. "It's awkwardly he's not talking to me." I reply. Once I get there, I text them I'm back.

Aria p.o.v:  
I get out of the car, when ezra calls my name, getting out of the car. I walk back to the car. "You forgot your purse." He says. "Thanks Z." I say, giving him the nickname he hates. "Really, pookie bear?" He jokes. I just roll my eyes. "I love you, Ezzy poo" I laugh. "Now that's just crossing the line." He jokes. He puts his hands on my cheeks, and kisses me. I wrap my arms around his neck. "Can you believe we're in Italy, and we still have to sneak around?" He laughs. I just shake my head. "I don't care." I say, kissing him one more time. "Thanks for the ride." I say. "Anytime," He says. "When are you going back to rosewood, I ask, sticking my sad through his window. "In 4 more days. "We'll be here for five." I sigh. "I'll call you. You should go now." "Okay. Bye." I say, walking up to our hotel. "Damn, what took you so long?" Hanna asks. "We got caught in traffic." I say, I start changing out of my uncomfortable clothes because they're my bestfriends. "Aria.. Are you okay?" Emily asks, staring at the bruise on my back. It must have been from when ezra and I had sex. Twice. "Um, I'm fine." I say. "Well that looks really bad." She says. "I'm fine. I'm gonna go to sleep. Im really tired." I say, before  
passing out.

**What should happen next?! I'm running out of ideas..**


	6. Chapter 6

Aria P.O.V:  
The next morning, we were scheduled to go on the Almafi coast boat tour. Spencer, Hanna, Emily and I put on bathing suits with clothes over them. (I wore a strapless striped aquamarine and white striped one, Hanna wore a pink lacish one, spencer wore a navy blue and white polka dotted one, and Emily wore a yellow and orange tie-dyed one.) Once we meet the rest of Spencer's family, Melissa asks "Is it okay if I invite ezra?" To her parents. "Yeah, sure." Her mom says. "I actually don't have his number." Melissa says sadly. "Actually, uh, I still have it from last night when Mr. Fitz gave me a ride back to the hotel.." I tell her. "Thank you so much," she says. I bring him up on my phone, and call him. "Hey, aria." He says. "I still have your number from when you drove me back to the hotel, and Melissa wanted to ask you something." I explain. "Uh, okay." He says, kinda confused. I hand my phone to Melissa. "I was wondering if you wanted to join us on the boat tour today. It's supposed to be really pretty." Melissa says. After about a minute, she hands me my phone back. "He said he can come, and he's going to meet us at the dock." Melissa replies. "Can I have Ezra's number?" Melissa asks. "Yeah, um, one second." I say, before telling her his phone number. We walk all the way down to the dock, and Ezra's already standing there. "Hey." Ezra says, first to Melissa, then he shakes Mr. And Mrs. Hasting's hands, and he waves to us. We pile onto the boat, which is basically like a semi-circle of seating, so we're all there together. The boat starts off, and after about 45 minutes of the tour guide giving us a scenic tour, we pull up to a cave.

The cave was really deep, but we row around after that for a little white until we stop. The tour guide says we can swim now. Everyone's a little weary, but Emily gets in first, because she can't resist the water. The water was so clear, we could see her legs through the water. Hanna, Spencer, and I got in next because it looked so refreshing, and it was. Melissa accidentally knocked ezra off, and I felt bad, but I couldn't stop laughing. My friends thought it was funny too. Ezra told me that when he was a kid, his biggest fear was going into the ocean, like this. But he got over it a while ago. Melissa and their parents even joined us. My friends and I swam out pretty far, and Spencer's mom and dad wanted us to be careful, but didn't want to swim out that far themselves, and Melissa didn't want to either, so they designated Ezra to watch us. Spencer pointed out this spot where these rocks were formed like seats, so my friends and I started swimming towards it. Me, having the little arms and legs didn't particularly help me keep up with my friends, and Hanna, just not being used to swimming a whole lot made us both slow. I was swimming under the water, and I actually ran into somebody, which turned out to be ezra. "Sorry." I blush. "It's okay." He says, smiling at he adorably. I make my way to Spencer and Emily with Hanna, and we sit next to them. "Aria just head butted Mr. Fitz." Hanna giggles. "It was an accident." I say, laughing. Ezra comes and sits by me, because it's the only open seat. "This is a little awkward." He says, and I start cracking up. They start laughing too. They really have no idea.  
My friends and I are talking, and Ezra's hand is on the rock, but his pinky is touching my thigh. He starts rubbing my thigh just to annoy me, and I elbow him in the side, a little too hard. "Agh!" He whisper screams. "I'm sorry I hit you hard. There was a bug. I hate bugs." I say awkwardly. My friends burst into laughter. "Are you trying to hurt me? First the head butt, then this?" He jokes. "I'm sorry." I blush.

"We should be getting back." Ezra tells us. We swim back to the boat, and dry off. Once we get back to the dock, we stop for ice cream, and I try to stay away from ezra, because I don't want my friends to suspect anything.

Ezra leaves early, because he has to be back to his brothers house. We're walking back to our hotel about 4 hours later, when my phone rings, and it's ezra. "Hey." I say. "Um, is this Aria?" Some man asks. "Uh, yes." I reply. "This is Ezra's older brother, Paul. Ezra was in a car crash on the way to my house. He's at the hospital now. You were in the top 3 of his emergency call list, so I wanted to let you know. He broke a couple fingers, and a leg, but it's nothing life threatening, because his air bag protected him almost all the way. He'll be realized in about maybe an than an hour. He'll be fine. There's nothing to worry about." Paul explains. "Thanks for calling me, I appreciate it. If he wakes up, tell him I'm coming to see him soon. Where is he going to be?" I ask. "He's already back at his hotel." Paul replied. "Thanks, Paul." I reply. "You're welcome. Take care." He says. "You too." "Bye".

"My friend, the one I visited last night got in a car crash." I explain. "Is he okay?" Mrs. Hastings asks. "Yeah, just a broken leg, and fingers. No biggie." I reply. "That's good." Mr. Hastings says. "Do you want to go see him?" Spencer asks. "Yeah, if that would be alright with you all." I say. "Mom, dad, Melissa, you can go on, we'll go with aria, If that's alright?" Spencer says. "Yeah." I reply.

I walk with my friends and we get to Ezra's hotel. "This is it." I say. We get to the lobby, and we finally get to his door. "Guys.. There's something I need to tell you." I say, sighing. "It's about my friend, the one who got in a car crash." I reply. "What about him?" Emily asks. "Well, he's actually my boyfriend, and uh, we've been dating for like 5 months now.." I ramble. "What, aria?" They ask. "Can you guys wait outside for a second? I need to ask him something." I ask them. "Yeah.." "Okay, I'll be right back." I tell them, before slipping inside.

"Hey, Ezra". I say, as I sit on the side of his bed where he's laying down. "Are you okay?" I ask, kissing his forehead. "I'm fine." He sighs. "Okay. So my friends are outside your door, and Is it okay if I tell them about us?" I ask. "They're gonna find out sooner or later," he says, chuckling. "I love you. No matter what they say. I'll call you." I kiss him gently. I open the door, and close it. "I just talked to my boyfriend." I say. "I need to tell you all something. And you have to promise not to tell anybody." I say. "I'm in love with Ezra Fitz." I tell them.

**How should each girl react? (: Thanks so much for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

"What the hell?" Hanna asks. "I did not see that coming!" Emily laughs. I blush. "Can we wait to talk about this until we're back at the hotel?" I ask. We stop for coffee on the way back to the hotel, and we finally sit down on the couch. They're all silent. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys, but it wasn't just my secret to keep." I tell them. "So you're serious?" Hanna asks. I laugh. "Yes, Hanna. I'm telling the truth. I'm sorry I lied to you all." I sigh. "I never would have thought of you as someone who.." Emily starts to say. "Is dating their teacher?" I finish her sentence. "How long have you been dating him?" Emily asks. "Since about half a month before school started." I estimate. "Then how'd you guys meet?" Hanna asks. "At a bookstore." I say. Which is technically true. "Let's get ready for bed." I say. All three of them get up. "Spence, wait!" I say. "You've been silent this whole time," I state, "What's your opinion on the matter?"

"Well, I've known for about 2 days." She says. "Wait, what? How?" I ask. "You were acting kind of weird around him when you saw him, like you were surprised he was here or something, but it was different from us. It was more like you were angry that he didn't tell you he was coming, or something like that. I was looking to see what the weather looked like, that silver car that brought you back in the morning the first night, was the same car Mr. Fitz was driving when he dropped you off last night. I was just tired of Hanna talking about Caleb and fashion so I went to the window to get away from her and I noticed." Spencer explains. "And when he was on the boat, I saw him checking you out, and that's when it clicked in my brain that you two were a thing." She adds. "Spencer, I" I start to say. "Are you happy with him?" She asks. "What do you mean? Of course I'm happy with him. I love him." I tell her. "Okay, because you're really tiny. And I love you. Team Sparia has to look out for eachother." Spencer says. I hug her. "Thanks for being so amazing." I laugh.

Emily and Hanna come back, and Spencer and I get ready for bed. My phone rings, and I glance at who's calling. "I'll be right back." I say. "Hey." I answer. "Hey, Aria." He says. "Are you okay?" I ask. "I'm fine. Did you tell your friends about us yet?" He asks. "Yeah I told them." "How'd it go?" He asks. "They're okay with it." I grin. I'm so glad they don't hate me or something. "That's good. I love you. I can't get on a plane with my broken leg, so my brother is driving me back to rosewood." Ezra explains. "Oh, okay. When?" I say. "It's a couple days after I was originally leaving. I'll be fine." He says. "Okay. Be careful." I warn. He just laughs at me. "I will. Go to sleep, it's past your bedtime." He jokes. "Shut up! That's not funny!" I laugh. "Well you're laughing, so.." I can tell he's smiling on the other line. "Goodbye." I say. "Wait." He says. "What?" I ask. "I love you." He says sweetly. "I love you too," I smile. "Bye." I hang up. I walk back into our room, and we're all sound asleep in the next hour.

**They have one more day of the trip left (and Ezra's staying a couple days longer because of his broken leg). What should happen on the last day of the trip, and ezra can be in it, or not. It doesn't matter, I just need your awesome ideas! Thanks so much for reading! I hope you like it.**


	8. Chapter 8

Aria p.o.v:  
For our second to last actual day in Italy, we decided to go to Gardaland, Italy's biggest amusement park. They have water rides, and regular roller coasters. None of us are really afraid of roller-coasters, so that's okay. I already checked their website, and it turns out the tallest you have to be to ride a ride is 4'7 1/8" and I'm 5'2"! While my friends and I were getting ready, right as we were about to meet Spencer's parents and sister, I ask them to wait. "I just wanted to let you all know... If someone says something about Ezra today, because Melissa probably will, don't laugh, or giggle, or make and sarcastic or snarky comments. I am really serious. I am trusting you all not to say anything." I tell them. "We won't Aria, we promise," They all say simultaneously. "That was weird," I say. We drive as a group of 8. Once we get there, Spencer's mom asks Melissa about ezra. "Do you want to see if he can meet us here?" She asks Melissa. I glare at them to make sure they won't say anything, and we go on with our conversation. "He said he's busy, But I asked if I could stop by, and he said we all can." She says. We spend about 6 hours riding roller coasters and water rides. I've never been to an amusement park with my friends before, only my family, so that it was a really cool experience, especially in Italy. Spencer's parents didn't really ride the rides, but Melissa and the rest of us did. We stop to get a snack about halfway through the day, and we share a basket of fries because amusement park food is too expensive for our likings. I check the time, and I see I have 5 missed calls from ezra. What does he want? Why are there 5? It must be important. "Excuse me, I have to call somebody back." I tell me friends, before finding a little bit quieter space around some benches. "Ezra.. Is everything okay? Why did you call me so many times?" I ask. "I'm sorry to bother you Aria, but Melissa called me and she told me that you all are coming over, but I don't think that's a good idea, especially with the awkwardness of your friends just figuring out about us.. They might.. Or you might.. Or I might accidentally slip up or something. In front of Spencer's parents. Who are really observant, Aria." He rambles. "Not observant enough." I laughs. "I'm serious." "So am I. I talked to them. They'll be fine. We'll be fine. Don't worry. Please." I say. "Okay, fine. So what are you doing? Sorry for being so nosy, but i'm just laying here in bed all day, by myself, because there's no point for my brother to drag his family here." "It's okay. We're at Gardaland, it's an amusement park." "Oh, that's cool. Have fun. I love you." He says. "Love you too. Bye." meet my friends back at the table we're all sitting at. "Who was that?" Hanna asks curiously. "It was my friend, the one who I went to see last night." I say. "Oh, cool." She says.

We continue eating the end of the fries. "Oh, fuck." I say. Standing up. My eyes get really wide, and I freeze. "Aria-" spencer starts to say. "Spence, c-can you come with m-me for a second." I stutter. "Yeah, okay.." She says. I grip we wrist and I drag her over to the bench where I was before. "What's wrong, aria?" She asks. " last night, I told your parents that I was seeing my friend, the one who got into a car crash and broke his leg and fingers.." I say. "Yeah, and?" Spencer asks. "We're going to see ezra later today. What if your mom or dad notice? What if they put two-and-two together and they figure out I'm dating him? They could call the police and have him arrested.." I ramble. "Oh shit." She says. "Spencer, what am I gonna do?" I ask. "Tell ezra to find a new story of how he broke his leg. Like tell him to tell us that he tripped on the stairs at his brothers house on a toy one of his Niece's or Nephew's left out." Spencer suggests. "Spence, you're a genius!" I say. I text ezra and he agrees. "Thank you so much." I say.

We go on a couple final rides before regrouping in the car to go to Ezra's. Spencer's dad is driving us, and we all stop in front of the hotel Ezra's staying at. My friends and I let Melissa take the lead to find it for obvious reasons. Once we get there, Melissa knocks on the door. "It's open!" He yells. Melissa pops her head in, "Hi" he we can hear him say. "I brought everyone. Is that okay?" She asks. "It's fine." He says. My friends and I walk behind them. We all sit on the couch. "How's you break your leg, Ezra?" Mrs. Hastings asks. "I- um, tripped on my niece's toy, and I fell down the stairs.." He lies. "I'm sorry." She says. "It's fine," he says. "So.. What have you been doing all day?" Melissa asks. "Nothing, really. I mean I had one phone call, and I ate some soup." He laughs. I roll my eyes. He's such a dork. "That sounds fun." "No it's doesn't." He laughs. "But now all of you are here." He smiles. "That's so sweet." Mrs. Hastings says. "So, how long have you lived in rosewood, Ezra?" Mr. Hastings asks. "I used to live in New York, but I went to Hollis my Sophomore year of college because I wanted to get away from everything, and I decided to stay in rosewood, and I got accepted as a teacher, my first teaching job." He explains. "That's good" is all Mr. Hastings says. "So how was the amusement park?" Ezra asks. "It was really fun. I wish you could have been there, though." Melissa says. "Sorry. I've been kinda limited to things.." He says, pointing to his leg. Everyone just laughs. "Excuse me, do you have anything to drink?" I ask like I would if I didn't know him. "Yeah, there's some water bottles in the fridge. "Does anybody else want one?" I ask, getting up. "I'll take one." Emily says. "Me too." Hanna and Melissa say. "Actually can I have one too?" Ezra asks. "Of course." I say. I get five, and I hand them out. "So, ezra, how are you going to fly back to rosewood?" Melissa asks. "My brother's driving me." He says. "How?" Hanna asks, confused. "He's driving me to a bus which will drive me the rest of the way." He says. "Oh." Hanna replies. "Do you all want to watch a movie or something? I mean I don't know what else we can do." Ezra says. "That's a good idea." Melissa says. "You girls can go out on the deck of you're bored," Mr. Hastings says, "If that's alright with you, Ezra?" "Yeah, of course." He says. We look eyes, and I half smile at him.

On our way toward the deck, Hanna whispers something to Emily and Emily whispers something to Spencer, and they won't stop giggling. The second I close the door, they lose control of themselves and burst into laughter. "What's so funny?" I ask. They calm down, and I wait for them to tell me. "One of your bras is like on the floor, and Hanna tripped over it!" Spencer cracks up again. I blush bright red, like a rose, and they can't control their giggling. "We're not laughing at you, just the thought that if Melissa sees it, she's gonna want to know who's bra it is, and when he tries to explain, it'll be awkward as hell." Spencer adds. "Why is your bra on the floor, anyway?" Hanna asks. "Ezra and I had sex, okay?!" I admit. It's silent. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not a whore. It was my first time... With him." I say. They burst out laughing. "How's you forget your bra on the floor though?" Emily asks, grinning at me, trying to keep in her laughter. "I had a change of clothes, and I just forgot about it, okay?" I say, annoyed. "You should go get it." Hanna says. "Fine." I huff. I quietly open the door, and ezra sees me, he's the only one who's chair is angled toward me. I bulge my eyes to tell him to shut up, even though he wasn't going to say anything. I swiftly grab it, and rush outside. "I got it." I blush. I shove it in my purse. "Can we just pretend this never happened?" I ask.

I text ezra and ask him to come out here for a second. I want to ask him something but I can't text it to him. "I need to ask you something.." I mumble. I grab his wrist, and gently help him, or try to help him, get away from the girls. "Can you all pretend we're not here? Please? For only a couple minutes?" I ask. They nod. "This might be asking too much, but I want to meet your family." I whisper. "Why all the sudden?" He asks. "Because your brother knows I exist; and I'll probably never get a chance to meet them again, and I really want to." I say. "I don't know.." He starts to say. "Please? You've met mine." I say, smirking. "That's totally different! They don't know I'm your boyfriend, just your teacher." He says. "Well he doesn't know I'm your student, just your girlfriend." "Just say yes, ezra." I tell him. I grab his cheeks. I kiss him, and I between kisses I mumble. "say it." "Yessss" he shakes his head. My eyes widen. "Really?!" I ask excitedly. "I guess so. But I don't know how we're gonna do this, because you're leaving Italy in the morning.." He mumbles, glancing at my friends who aren't paying attention to us. "I can tell them that my friend has an extra ticket and he's letting me have it if I stay a couple days later to see him." I suggest. "Aria, you're a genius!" He laughs. "I'm going to call my mom and ask, and then I'll tell Mrs. Hastings. You can go. I don't need you anymore." I joke. "Heh heh." He fake laughs, before going inside. I call my mom.  
"Hey mom, Uh, Holden's in Italy, right now and he has an extra plane ticket to rosewood from when he was going to visit me but decided not to, so could I stay in Italy for three more days?" I ask. "Sure. But are you flying home by yourself?" She asks "Yeah, but it's fine mom. I'm 17. I have my phone. And a rape whistle. I'll be okay." I tell her. "Okay honey. Call me the day you're flying back." She says. "I will. I love you. Bye." I tell her.

I walk back over to my friends. "Why did you have to call your mom?" Hanna asks confused. "I'm gonna stay here for three more days, and meet Ezra's family, and ezra, well he didn't technically say it, but I'm sure his brother wouldn't mind driving me back with ezra. I told my mom holden had an extra plane ticket from when he was going to visit me but he changed his mind." I try to explain. I explain the plan, the one I told my mom, to Mrs. Hastings and she agrees. We leave Ezra's hotel, and they get ready to leave in the morning. I say good bye to them, and they drop me off at a fake house, before going to the airport, where I walk to Ezra's hotel.

"Hey." I say, setting my stuff down, and kissing his forehead.

**What should happen next? (Like how aria meets his family? How do they react? Should Ezra's little niece be named Grace, Or Savannah? [i think I'm going to name her Grace, but idk.] )**


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, babe." He says, squeezing my hand. "Are you okay?" I ask, glancing at his leg. "I am now that you're here." I laugh at his corniness. "Do you want me to get you anything?" I ask. "No I'm good." He says, smiling at me. I take my shirt off and get one of his. I sit down next to him, and I'm finally allowed to be in his company. Alone. "I called my brother and he says he's going to come get us in the morning and bring us to his house for you to meet the rest of his family, we're going to eat lunch, and then we can do whatever happens next." He explains. "Sounds good." I say, snuggling into his side. "Thank you. For doing this." I look into his eyes. "You're welcome. I know it's important to you." He says. I smile at him. "You should sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." He whispers. "Aye captain." I giggle. I snuggle into him more, and grip his shirt in my hands as I fall asleep to the sound of his steady heartbeat.

I wake up early and make pancakes for breakfast, with some leftover mix that Mrs. Hastings gave me to eat with "Holden". "Mmmm, what's that smell? Ezra hugs me from behind. Ezra kisses my neck gently. "Pancakes," I mumble. I hand him his plate "aww and you even added chocolate chips in them, how sweet," he comments. I just roll my eyes playfully. I get back up to get us our coffee that I made, and we finally start eating. I wash the dishes that we borrowed from the hotel, and we take turns in the shower to get ready for today. Once were dressed, I help ezra outside with his broken leg by holding his hand. He's doing better, and he has a boot, but no crutches. I see a slightly older version of Paul pull up in a silver car. "You must be Aria. I'm Paul." He smiles warmly. "Hi." I say, smiling back at him. We get ezra into the car, and we drive back to Paul's house, making small talk along the way. "This is my wife, Sarah" Paul introduces me to her. "Hi," I smile at her. "I'm Aria."  
"Uncle Ezra!" The five year old squeals, running to give ezra a big hug from out of nowhere. "Hey peanut!" He kisses her on the forehead. She's giggling, and she looks up at me. "Who are you?" She asks. "I'm Aria. You must be Grace." I grin at her. She smiles an open tooth smile, and nods her head. "You're pretty." Grace says. "Thank you! So are you." I compliment the four year old. She smiles at me. "Wanna see my dolls?" She asks me. I glance at ezra and he nods, shrugging his shoulders. "Sure!" I say. She grabs my hand and leads me to a huge box of dolls near the couch. "Woah! That's a lot of dolls." I comment. She names all 17 one by one. "You can play with this one. She kind of looks like you." Grace smiles, pushing her dark curly locks behind her ear. I smile. "Okay." Grace warmed up to me pretty fast and now wherever I go, she goes. "So Aria, what do you do for a living?" Paul asks, after we're all siting in the living room. "I'm still in school, actually, I'm studying to become an English teacher. I wanted to become a writer, but I don't know if that's ever gonna happen." I laugh. "That's cool. I'm sure you're better than you give yourself credit for." Sarah says. "She is." Ezra rolls his eyes playfully. "So what did you guys go for a living?" I ask. "I'm an insurance agent, and Sarah stays at home with Grace, usually. "I used to work as a teacher, but when I had Grace, Paul took over." She laughs. "That's understandable." I say. "So, how did you all meet?" Paul asks. "At a bookstore.." I glance up at ezra and he's chuckling. That's only 1/4 of the story. "What about you two?" I ask. "We dated In high school, and we broke up, but we met at a concert again and yeah." Paul laughs. Suddenly a really loud growl is heard throughout the room. "Are you hungry, sweetie?" Sarah asks Grace. "Yeah." She says. "You could of told me, honey." Sarah says. "I didn't want to interrupt." The five year old twirls her fingers around her beautiful curls, and looks down. Sarah picks Grace up. "Do you want to help me make lunch?" Sarah asks Grace. "Yes! Can Aria come? We can have girl time." She giggles. "You should ask her, Gracie." Sarah says. Grace leaps over toward me. "Will you please help us make lunch pleaseeee?" She begs. "Sure!" I say happily. I squeeze Ezra's hand, and I follow Grace and Sarah into the kitchen.

Sarah makes turkey, cheese, lettuce, and mayo sandwiches, which all of us like, so it's not a problem, and she asked me to help her make the fruit salad. "Sure." I say.I worked out a system, so I would cut the fruit, and Grace would put it into the big bowl. I cut up apples, bananas, strawberries, oranges, grapes, watermelon, pineapple, blueberries, and papayas, and Grace mixed it up. "Boys, it's time for lunch!" Sarah calls. "One sec, Sarah." Paul yells. We sit down at the table and wait for them to join us. Sarah puts some food on grace's plate, because she's been waiting to eat for a while. Once the boys join us, we all get food, and we dig in. "This fruit is so fresh." I comment. "I got it yesterday. I couldn't resist it." Sarah giggles. I chuckle. "What were you boys talking about in there?" I ask. I raise an eyebrow. "You." Paul says. I raise an eyebrow at him. "Paul!" Ezra says. "What? If she's gonna be around for a while, we might as well be honest from the start." Paul says. "Good point." I smile. "Why are you so short?" Grace asks me. "I was born that way?" I say. "But mommy isn't short." Grace says, confused. "My whole family is short." I laugh. "Your mommy and daddy are short?" Grace asks. "Yes, my mother and my father are both kind of short." I say. "Okay." She seems satisfied, and she'a gone back to gobbling down her food.

We finish eating, and Paul cleans up, while Sarah takes Grace to the bathroom. "Hey, Ar," Ezra kisses my cheek. "Hey, Ez." I mock him. "Heh heh." He fake laughs. Grace wants to color next, so that's what we do. "Aria?" Grace asks me. "What?" I ask, smiling. "Can you draw me a picture of us together?" Grace asks. "Sure." I say. I grab the box of colored pencils, just because they are easier to draw with than crayons. I start drawing and It takes me about 30 minutes. "What the fuck?" Ezra blurts. "Ezra!" Sarah slaps him on the shoulder with a magazine. "I'm sorry. I meant to stop but I can't.." He mumbles. "How come you never told me you could draw like that?" Ezra asks. You never asked."I comment. "Yes I did. Like 5 times." He laughs. "That is so good, Aria, it legitimately looks exactly like you two." Paul compliments. "Thanks". I laugh. Grace stares at it, and she grins so bright. "Thank you aria!" She says really really really loudly. I laugh. "You're welcome, hon." I say. After about 3 more hours of fun and games, we decide to leave. "It's getting late. We should head out." Ezra says. "Yeah, Grace is yawning." Paul says. "It was nice meeting you, Grace." I hug her. "Are you coming back?" She asks. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I smile. "Okay. Goodnight." She says. Paul drops us off, and ezra and I get into our room. Without saying anything, I wrap my arms around him, and kiss him. He tastes like pineapples. "You taste good." I mumble against his lips. "What was that?" He asks. "I said. That you taste good." I laugh. I lead him to the couch, and I kiss him. I straddle his lap in order to be more comfortable while we kiss. I subconsciously trail my fingers across the hem of his shirt, and he rubs my back lightly. I change into sweatpants and a t-shirt. "good night." I kiss his cheek, and curl into him.

**What should happen with Grace and Paul and Sarah on the last day the get to see Aria and Ezra?**


	10. Chapter 10

"Paul called. We're going on a picnic."  
"That's exciting." I say, happily.

We get dressed, and I grab my purse on the way out. I use the map on my phone to drive to the park we're supposed to meet them at.

"Aria! Uncle Ezra!" Grace squeals, jumping into our arms for hugs.  
"Hey peanut." Ezra kisses her cheek.

I grab Ezra's hand and gently lower him onto the ground. He finds it hard to sit with his boot on.  
"What's for lunch, mommy?" Grace asks.  
"Peanut butter and jelly for you, and pasta salad for us." She replies.  
"How come I can't have pasta salad?" Grace asks.  
"You can. But you won't like it." Sarah laughs.  
"Fine." Grace says.  
"Who's this?" I ask, pointing to Grace's polar bear stuffed animal.  
"His name is Winston." She grins, hugging it to her chest.  
"That's a very nice name." I compliment her.  
"Thank you." She says.

We start eating, and we're about 1/4 through our meal, when Grace sees an adorable puppy being walked. Grace pulls her mom and Winston with her. "Excuse me m'am? Can I please pet your dog?" Grace asks politely.  
"Go right ahead." The girl says. "What's its name?" Grace asks while she's petting the dog.  
"Her name is Olive, but I call her Ollie for short." The lady says. All of the sudden, Olive grasps Winston in her teeth, and tears the stuffed animal apart. "WINSTON!" She screams, starting to cry. The lady retrieves Winston out of her dogs mouth and hands it to Sarah. "I am so sorry!" She apologizes.  
"Grace, we'll get you another." Sarah says.  
"No, I want Winston!" She sobs.  
Sarah picks up a crying Grace and we walk back over to the blanket.  
"What's wrong, peanut?" Ezra asks. "That dog hurt Winston." She bursts into even more tears.  
"You, can sew, right aria?" Ezra asks. "Yeah." I mumble.  
"Don't be modest, Aria. You practically make your own clothes." He laughs. "I recycle things." I reply. "Like forks for earrings." He starts laughing. "That was one time." I stare at him angrily. "And shoelaces, and dead birds, and fox skin, and ties for a skirt-"  
"Okay, Ezra, Shut up."  
"I'm going to try to make Winston all better, okay?" I ask Grace. She just nods her head, while I dig a mini sewing kit out of my purse. I pick up Winston and carefully stitch him back up.  
"Look, Grace, he's all better." I hand her the stuffed animal. Her face lights up like the sun as she sees what I did. "He even has warrior wounds to show how brave he is." I point to the stitching.  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She grins at me. She attacks me and gives me the biggest hug a little girl has ever given me. Paul takes Grace to go play on the playground while we finish eating. "Thank you so much, Aria. You've made Grace so happy." Sarah thanks me.  
"No problem," I smile.  
"So, Aria, what was ezra talking about, you make your own clothes?" She asks.  
"I just.. Add my own style to them.." I laugh.  
"Thats really cool." She glances at my dark blue jean shorts over a dark pair of lights with a purple undershirt and a leopard cardigan.  
"Thanks," I say.  
"So Aria, how old are you? You really young." She smiles. "I, uh, I'm uh, I.." I stutter. "We actually wanted to talk to you all tonight about that. We were thinking that the four of us could go out for dinner tonight." Ezra butts in.  
"Yeah, I'll call a babysitter for Grace." Sarah says.  
She calls Haley, Grace's favorite babysitter to watch her tonight.  
"We'll see you tonight." Ezra says, standing up. We walk over to Grace and tell her that we'll see her later tonight."  
I drive ezra to the hotel so we can get ready early. Once we're dressed, I being ezra to the couch. "So what are- what do- what are we going to say to them?" I ask. "I'll just tell them. He's my brother. He should at least give us a chance to explain it." Ezra says, holding my hand. "We'll be fine, Ar. Everything is gonna be okay." He kisses my forehead.  
We just lay on the couch until it's time to meet Sarah and Paul at the restaurant. We're in our car, and ezra clears his throat.  
"Did I tell you that you look beautiful yet?" He asks.  
"No." I laugh.  
"Well you do," he says, "look beautiful." He adds. "Thanks. and you are really handsome," I giggle, helping him into the car.

Once we get to the restaurant, once I help him inside, Paul and Sarah are waiting for us at a table. "Sorry we're late. I had a hard time getting him out of the car." I laugh.  
"It's okay." Sarah says.  
We order our drinks and our food, and it's really quiet. Sarah must have told Paul we have to tell them something.

I grab Ezra's hand underneath the table, and it gives him the courage to speak.

"There's something we need to tell you, but, before we tell you that, there's.. there's something else we have to tell you." He gulps. "I'm 17." I tell them. "Woah." Is all they can say. "You don't act 17." Paul laughs. "Thanks, I guess." I say. "I didn't realize you were so young." Sarah whispers to herself. "Yeah, well, I didn't either when I met her." I shove him "agh!" He rubs where I shoved him. "Shut up, I barely shoved you." I laugh. "The other thing, is.." Ezra starts to say.  
"I'm Aria's teacher." Ezra spurts.  
"Wh-what?" Sarah says. Paul's mouth won't close.  
"But we met way before he was my teacher." I butt in. "I tried to break it off, guys I did, but I couldn't. We were already in love." He says, squeezing my hand.  
"I believe you. Both of you." Paul says.  
"Me too." Sarah says.  
"Really?" I ask.  
"Yeah, I mean, love is love, Sarah says, "I can't deny that."  
"You have no clue how much this means to us." He says, grinning. I smile at him.  
"I give you all my blessing. But be careful, little bro."  
"We will, Paul. We promise." He says. We finish eating our food and ezra and I follow them home to say good bye. Once we get back, Sarah pays the babysitter and she leaves.  
"Grace. You need to say bye to Uncle ezra and Aria, they're leaving." Paul says. "Noo!" She squeals, running to us. She grabs us both in a hug as tight as her little hands can.  
"I don't want you to go!" She starts crying.  
"We'll come back to visit." I say.  
"You promise?" She asks, staring at us.  
"Here, Grace, do you know how to call people?" I ask. "I know how to call 911." She smiles.  
"That's good." I say.  
"Maybe, I can give your mom my phone number, and whenever you want to talk, just ask her, and I'll talk to you. Same with Uncle ezra, although your mom already has his number." I explain.  
"Okay." She says.  
"I made you something, though." Grace says.  
"Here." She hands me a picture she drew of me, her, Ezra, Sarah and Paul at a picnic.  
"This I so good!" I say, staring at it.  
"Thank you." She giggles.  
"We have to go now if you want I get back by 12:00 in the morning." Paul says. "Okay. Grace, I love you, peanut." Ezra says. "I love you too Uncle Ezra and Aria." She kisses us both on the cheek.

Paul drives us back to the hotel to get our stuff, and then he drives us to the airport. We check our bags in, and we're waiting to get in.  
"I love you Paul, call me if you need anything." Ezra says.  
"Thanks so much, Paul. For everything, really." I thank him. Ezra and I board the plane and after an 8 hr. 30 min. flight, we go to the airport in Philadelphia, and drive back to Rosewood from there.  
I help ezra bring his bag, because of his bad leg, and it was hard, but I got it, and I call Spencer to give me a ride home, sense she lives close to here, and my house. I set my bags in the truck.  
"Hey! I missed you." Spencer says.  
"I missed you too." I say, leaning into the seat.  
"So how was Fitz's family?" She asks as she starts driving to my house.  
"They're good. Really good." I say, smiling. "How many people did you meet?" she asks.  
"Oh, uh, just Ezra's brother Paul, his wife Sarah, and their adorable 5 year old Grace."  
"Aw that's so cute."  
"I know, she wouldn't let go of me for some reason," I laugh, "but I'm okay with that."  
"Do you have any pictures?" She asks, once we park.  
"I think. Hold on."  
I go to the gallery in my phone and look. I find one I took of Sarah and Grace while we were making fruit salad, and one of all of us at the picnic, before the dog ripped Winston. I show them to Spencer.  
"Aw she's so cute!" Spencer grins.  
"I know." I say. "I have to go, it's getting late, and there's school tomorrow. Thank you so much for taking us to Italy, and for driving me back home."  
"You're welcome. Get some sleep." She says, hugging me. I get my bag out of the trunk. I unpack everything in my room and I tell my mom about what we did with Spencer's family, and "Holden", leaving out Ezra, and Ezra's family.  
"I'm going to sleep, it's late." I tell my mom.

I set my alarm and I lay my clothes out for school tomorrow and get ready for bed.

**Do you have any ideas for what happens next? I'm kinda making this up as I of along, and I don't know what else I should say. I'my thinking about ending this story, but if you all give me suggestions, or ideas I guess i'll keep writing. Thanks for reading! (Btw all of your reviews are helpful).**


	11. Chapter 11

I meet Hanna, Spencer, and Emily in front of my locker before school. "Hey, Ar. How was the rest of Italy?" Hanna asks.  
"It was great." I smile.  
"Show them that picture of Grace." Spencer says, excitedly.  
I fish out my phone from my pocket and I show Hanna and Emily the picture. I dial Ezra's number. "Hey are you gonna be here today? Or are you going to wait until your leg gets a little better to come back?" I ask. "I can't really stand up without your help." He chuckles. "I'm sorry. What are you doing? And who's the sub?" I ask, switching my phone to my other ear.  
"I'm gonna go back to sleep soon," he says.  
"Did I wake you up?" I ask.  
"No, I was already up. I had to call the school to get a sub." He says.  
"Who is it?" I ask him for the second time.  
"Mr. Curtis." He say.  
"Ughh.." I moan, annoyed.  
"What?" He laughs.  
"Nobody likes him, he never helps with anything, he just sits there, god." I mumble.  
"Sounds like me," He jokes.  
"Haha. Of course I laugh.  
"I have to go. Have a good rest of the day." I say.  
"Bye. I love you." He says.  
"Love you too." I mumble before hanging up.

is as annoying as ever, and school goes by fast. By the time Monday rolls around again, Ezra's leg is almost healed. He's wearing a small foot cast, but he can walk by himself.

Over Christmas break, we were supposed to read a book that's at least 400 pages long and at our reading level, and then we're supposed to bring it in to class. I read "Lolita," I read it before, but I didn't honestly understand it or remember what happened so I reread it. Alison showed it to me.  
Here's what it's basically about:

Humbert's memoir begins by describing his childhood in the Riviera, where his father owns a luxury hotel. Humbert has many experiences, chief among them, his mother is struck by lightening. But, more prominently, he falls in love (and deep lust) with a "nymphet" girl-child named Annabel Leigh, who is at the hotel on vacation with her parents. Thwarted consummation of his sexual urges creates a life-long obsession with nymphets.  
Humbert receives an education in France and England. He marries Valeria, who ends up leaving him for a Russian cab driver. Receiving an inheritance from an uncle, Humbert moves to the United States. Humbert spends time writing and dipping in and out of mental institutes. He finally decides to settle down in Ramsdale, where he moves in with the widow Charlotte Haze and her nymphet daughter, Lolita.  
Humbert Humbert fixates on Lolita while barely tolerating her vulgar, middlebrow mother. Disgusted with her daughter's bratty behavior, Charlotte packs Lolita off to Camp Q and issues Humbert an ultimatum: love me or leave me. To stay in Lolita's life, Humbert marries Charlotte. An hysterical Charlotte is hit by a car after reading Humbert's diary and discovering his dark lust for her daughter and deep hatred of her.  
Humbert picks up Lolita at Camp Q and spirits her off to The Enchanted Hunters hotel. They have sex, which, according to Humbert, she initiates. A stranger expresses to Humbert his fascination with Lolita; Humbert has no idea who he is, plus it's dark so he can't see him.  
Humbert and Lolita spend a year driving all over the United States. Lolita starts getting a little bratty, challenging Humbert's sexual demands; he threatens to send her to an orphanage or reform school if she doesn't straighten up. He also feeds her constant craving for souvenirs, Hollywood movies, and pop cultural junk.  
Humbert and Lolita move to Beardsley. He gets a job teaching and she goes to the Beardsley School for girls, run by Mrs. Pratt. Lolita takes up an interest in boys, but is even more eager to join the school play, The Enchanted Hunters. Trying to keep her happy, Humbert consents.  
Humbert starts getting nervous about Lolita's fidelity to him, so they go on a trip. This time she plans the itinerary. Along the road, they are shadowed by a man in a red car who resembles Humbert's Uncle Trapp.  
Lolita becomes sick and must go into the hospital. While Humbert is back at the motel, Lolita leaves with a strange man. Humbert begins his obsessed hunt for Lolita, tracing back through every motel they visited. He spends years looking for her, during which time he hooks up with a kind-hearted alcoholic named Rita.  
Humbert receives a letter from Lolita; he tracks her down to a shanty in Coalmont.  
Humbert meets with a very pregnant Lolita, gets the story of her escape with Quilty, begs her to return to him, and gives her money from the sale of the Haze home. Now she can move to Alaska with her working-class husband, Dick.  
Humbert tracks down Quilty and kills him in his family home, Pavor Manor. Driving the wrong way down the street, Humbert is arrested. In jail, he writes his memoir.

And that's pretty much it. Anyway, ezra, sorry, I mean Mr. Fitz is giving us instructions on what to write about.  
"I don't want you all to be really really bored with this, so I'm giving you options," he says, handing outa piece of paper to everyone.  
"There's _ assignments you can choose from, but whatever you choose, it will be due by Monday, next week."

"The first choice is, you can write a poem about what you think a character in your book thinks about the other. It can be done however you want."

"The second choice would be to write a poem about the plot in general. Instead of using abstact language, use really concrete language, which describes something using imagery and figurative language, you know, similes, metaphors, personification, etc."

"The third choice, would be to write an essay about a theme you find throughout the book. I suggest this to some of you, because not everyone has a gift of words, and it would probably easier than trying really really hard on writing a poem when you know you just can't."

"The fourth option, is re writing your favorite chapter or section, in a different characters point of view, but still incorporating the authors style."

"The fifth option, would be to write about how the book relates to you, or someone in your life. It would have to e at least two pages."

"The sixth, and final option, is writing an analytical essay about your book. None of you will probably do this, and I actually encourage you not to, but if you don't have one spark of creativity in your entire body, then I guess you can. You should have learned how to write one already, but there's always books and the internet to help."

"I want you all to have fun with this, even though I know some of you hate this class. Just start writing. If you need any help, have any questions, or want suggestions, you can talk to me after school. My email is on the schools website if you don't have time to ask, but you want me to look it over. There's a rubric on the back of the sheet I gave you. Remember, it's due next Monday." The bell rings and everyone rushes out.

"Somebody's in a good mood." Hanna raises her eye brows.  
"What are you talking about?" I ask.  
"Mr. Fitz. He won't stop smiling." She laughs. "He's happy to be back teaching." I reply.  
"Whatever, I think he's just happy to see you." She laughs at me.  
"Whatever, Han." I say, rolling my eyes.  
"Want to come over to my house after school. We can bounce ideas off of each other.. or off of Aria," Spencer giggles. "Why me?" I ask.  
"Because you read and write all the time and you're really good at it and we need your help for ideas." Emily grins. "Okay, fine," I say.

We finish school and meet up at Spencer's house to start brainstorming.


	12. Chapter 12

**To .pll: Thanks for the review. I know the summary of Lolita was really long,but it was in case you didn't read the book,which a lot of people haven't. Since Aria's doing her whole assignment on it, I just wanted you all to understand what it's really about because it's important throughout this chapter. (: thanks and p.s the poems are not mine. I did not write these. I'm sorry I took so long to update but I couldn't think of what should happen next. Do you hate this story now? I feel like it's going downhill really fast and pretry soon nobody's going to read it.**

"What did you guys read?" I ask, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear.

"I read 'The Book Thief", it was really really good. I read it on the ride to Italy. I couldn't put it down," Spencer says.  
"Ooh, I love that book! It's so sad though," I comment.  
"I read 'the fault in our stars', it was actually really good." Hanna says. I gasp. "The Hanna Marin, reading a book?" I joke. "Ha. Ha." She rolls her eyes. "I was joking, Han." I say. "I know. I just hate reading. It's so boring." She says. "Not if you find a good book that's interesting." I reply.  
"I read The Hunger games trilogy." Emily says. "All three?" I ask. "Yeah," she laughs. "I wasn't just going to read one of them."  
"You know about those? I thought you were all into old books and shit." Hanna says.  
"Hanna!" Spencer says.  
"What? It was a legitimate question."  
I just laugh at them.  
"Yeah Hanna, it's true, but I read them because they sounded interesting, and they were. You should read them. You might like them," I say. "No, thanks. I'd rather spend my free time shopping, instead of reading about children battling to the death."  
"Good point." I say.  
"What did you read?" Spencer asks me.  
"Lolita". I reply, picking at my fingernails.  
"Didn't you already read that?" Emily asks.  
"Yeah, but I forgot what happened, so I just reread it."  
"So which assignment are you all gonna do?" I ask, getting a cup out of the cupboard and getting some water.  
"I think I'm going to write a poem," Spencer says. "Me too." Emily says. "Yeah, I suck at poetry, and writing in general." Hanna sighs. "What are you going to do then?" Emily asks.

"I don't know. I thought that's why we're here. To help each other." Hanna says, annoyed.  
"We can all help each other." I say.

We bounce ideas for each other's poems until they know what they want to do. I already have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to write, so I'll be fine.

My phone startles me as it starts ringing. "Hello?" I say. "Hey, Aria. Wanna come over later? I really want to see you." ezra says. "Yeah, sure, what time?" I ask. "Whenever. It doesn't matter. How about you come over and we can talk and then I can make us dinner, or something." Ezra says.  
"No offense, but you can't even make toast without burning it." I say.  
"You're lucky I love you, because that was r-u-d-e. And I can just order us take out." He says. "Okay. I'll be there later." I say, before hanging up. "I have to go. My mom needs help cleaning up the house for my dad to come back." Emily says. "That's great, Em." Spencer says. Hanna and I nod. "I have to go home. It's been a little weird since I left home. No body's been talking, and I don't know what's going on." I say. I know I shouldn't lie but I just feel weird about it so far.  
"I guess I should go too." Hanna says. We all say goodbye, and I head straight to Ezra's apartment.

"Hey, Ar," He says, kissing me. "Hey," I smile at him. "I'm gonna go get take out. It might be about 20- 25 minutes." He says. "That's fine. Take you time." I reply. Once he leaves, I get out my journal and I start writing my rough draft of my poem for English class. About 3/4 of the way through,my phone rings. "Hey, Spence." I say. "Hey, I had a question about my poem." She says. "You're Spencer Hastings, I thought you knew everything." I laugh. "Well, not.. Everything." She sighs.  
I explain what I would do if I was in her position.  
"Thanks, Ar." She says. "You're welcome, Spencer." I say. I hear a loud fire truck pass by the building.

"Where are you?" Spencer asks confused.  
"What do you mean? I'm right here." I say, biting my lip.

"Any fire truck you can hear at your house, I can hear at mine." She says.

"Oh my god, you're in his apartment." I can hear her sitting up.

"Are you on the bed?" She asks. I hop off. "No, I'm not on the bed." I say.  
"Is he there?" She questions me.  
"No- not exactly."  
"Is he taking a shower?" I can imagine the smirk on the other end of the line.  
I laugh. "He's getting takeout for dinner." I laugh at her.  
"I have to go. Thanks Aria. Have fun. But not too much fun." She laughs. "Goodbye." I say, sitting back on the bed. I continue writing the rest of the rough draft of my poem. I hear someone open the door, and I know it's Ezra, because he owns the apartment, but I'm almost done with the rough draft so I stay on his bed, finishing it up, so I don't lose my train of thought.

"Sorry I'm late. There was a big line." He laughs. "It's okay." I say. We talk and eat Chinese food. "What did you want to talk about.. When you called me?" I ask.

"I wanted to know how you're holding up." He says. "What do you mean?" I ask, really confused.  
"Just, everything. You. Your life. I'm really worried about you." He says. "What are you talking about?" I ask, still confused.  
"Ever since we got back from Italy, you haven't been happy. Something's bothering you, I can tell. I know you." He says, grasping my hands. "The anniversary of my grandma and grandpa's death was died two years ago.. They, um, they died in a car crash, and my grandma was in a coma. My grandpa died immediately. It happened about a month before Alison's death," I say, biting my lip so I don't cry.  
"Aria.." He says sympathetically. He wraps me in a hug, and just lets me cry. Once I'm done, we just sit there in silence. Lovely silence. "Thank you ezra. I love you so much, more than I know how to say." "You're welcome. I love you too." He says, kissing my forehead. "I'm gonna go home and see how my mom is holding up. Thanks for caring about me." I smile at him, getting my purse from the floor. "Hang in there, my partner in crazy." I laugh at his reference to the beginning of our relationship.  
"I will," I smile, leaving to drive home.

When I get home, I knock on my mom's door. I creak it open, and she's laying there, with her hands over her eyes, whimpering. "Mom," I rush to her side. "Hey, Aria." she sighs. "How are you holding up, mom?" I ask, getting under the covers. "I'm not gonna lie, I miss her, baby," my mom says. I wrap my arms around her, under the bed, and I hold her, just like ezra did to me. She falls asleep.

I type my poem that I wrote at Ezra's, and print it out, so I can edit it or something at school.  
I check on my mom, and she's still sound asleep.

"Thanks for last night, Aria. I love you, so much. I really needed you. And I just want you to know I appreciated it. A lot." She says. I just grin at her. "I hope you're feeling better. Grandma and Grandpa loved us. A lot. And I wanted you to know that's you still have us, the rest of us. To love you just as much." I hug her. "You are something special, you know that?" She just laughs. I smile and make some coffee. "Aria, can I have a ride to school? My friend who usually drives me is sick." Mike asks. "Sure." I say. I grab my coffee and my backpack, and we start driving to school.

I go sit next to Emily who's sitting by herself. "Hey, Em," I say. "Oh, hey." She says. We get our stuff and head off to our first class, AP World history.  
We see each other at lunch, but then we break apart for our last class before English.

I wait for Hanna, Spencer and Emily and then we go to English together. Once the bell rings, and everyone's silent, Ezra.. I mean, Mr. Fitz starts the lesson.

"I just wanted to know how many of you started or started thinking about your homework assignment?" He asks, "You're not going to get penalized if you haven't, but I was thinking about shortening the time length of when it's due. So raise your hand if you've started thinking or started writing yet." Ezra says.

Almost all of us, mostly the girls raise their hands. Even Hanna.

"How about I give you one more day, sense almost all of you are done. If this is your only homework, and you already read your book, it shouldn't really take as long as I thought." He says.

There's side comments and mumbling. "Please make sure you know the due date is in two days. Please write the book you read under your name, under your poem. And include a title. I'm going to let you all pick groups of 2-5, and you can brainstorm if you still need to do that, or you can peer edit. Just don't be super loud, because you all need to work." Ezra says.

Hanna, Spencer, Emily and I meet around my and Emily's desk, and we get out what we've done so far. "Who's started writing, or thought about what to write. Emily asks. "I did." Spencer and I reply. "Me too." Hanna says. "Yeah I did too." Emily answers.

"I already wrote mine I'm probably going to turn it in at the end of class," Spencer says.

"I did mine too," Emily says.  
"So did I!" Hanna says excitedly.

"Okay class, it's time to pack up. School's almost over. I'm staying after school today for half an hour, so if you have questions, or want me to look at your work, please ask. Also, if you're already done, you can turn in your work." He says, glancing around the classroom.

Hanna, Spencer, Emily and I turn in our poems, as well as almost everybody else, except for a couple big procrastinators.

Ezra's p.o.v:

I grab all of the writings, and put them in my file folder in my briefcase. Nobody bothered coming by so I go home and I fall asleep. Because I'm tired. School will do that to you.

I talk on the phone with Hardy before I eat dinner and go back to sleep. Sleeping is really hard because I've been up late making Aria's birthday present that's coming up, and sleeping at weird times.

When I got to school the next day, it was a pretty normal day, but I finally got all of my Sophomore's writing. I'm really eager to read all of these, to see how my student have progressed in their writing. I start reading them, and these four stick out the most to me:

_**Death**_

_A deadly embrace_

_A kiss of pain_

_With only the colors_

_To distract me_

_A blood soaked sun_

_A scream of sadness_

_And it's my job_

_To clean up the mess_

_How can Death itself_

_Be so haunted by it_

_How can the soul collector_

_Hate the job so much?_

_By Spencer Hastings  
The Book Thief_

_**The Archer's Aim**_

_The archer's aim is ever straight and true.  
Her arrows tipped with coldest stone and steel  
Are sharp enough to wound him through and through._

_She lifts her bow and all else falls from view  
Till target, girl, and bow are all that's real.  
The archer's aim is ever straight and true._

_The boy looks on as hopeless lovers do  
While she attempts to strategize and deal;  
It's sharp enough to wound him through and through._

_She pays him smiles like old debts coming due,  
As empty as the songbird's mocking peal.  
The archer's aim is ever straight and true._

_Each year we send our children two by two  
On trembling legs of flesh and bone and steel  
And watch them wound each other through and through._

_But if this archer's frozen fire is real  
Perhaps this year the game is ours to steal.  
The archer's aim is ever straight and true  
And sharp enough to wound him through and through._

_By Emily Fields_

_The Hunger Games Trilogy_

_**The Fault in Our Stars**_

_Why me? Why us?_

_I'm a grenade about to detonate  
This pain, it demands to be felt  
I want to leave a mark, but oblivion is inevitable  
The fault in our stars, too big a gap for us to fathom_

_I was lost, huddled in the dark  
You coax me to live, that I'm yet alive  
Stay by my side, even just for awhile  
No matter how hard, I'll stand upright_

_I don't want to leave just yet  
Let me be, content as I am  
I don't need to be convinced  
Misaligned, the fault blamed on the stars_

_If I could choose when to go  
I'll choose after you, never before  
So I wouldn't worry that you're all alone..  
And when finally it's time, we'll meet at my door_

_By Hanna Marin  
The Fault In Our Stars_

_**Beauty is the hardest thing to live with**_

_did we not know that place  
often and too well?  
in that space between the sun  
and shade where your youth hid in hot days  
and traipsed through warm nights_

_your eyes were coral reefs  
in peacock shallows,  
light with dark green holes,  
depths shining an  
iridescent feathered blue  
fanned with emerald_

_your hair an orange  
flag of flame flapping,  
leaning upward with the wind  
a thick foliage of fire –  
a patch of strands brushed your face  
and scurried up your cheek  
like a bright squirrel  
to be caught in white spider fingers_

_your hands held my face  
like a flower and your face  
a flower in my hands  
the color of peach Mercedes roses,  
flecked with freckles;  
your mind full of furniture  
you could quickly rearrange –  
one more incongruity  
hinged to you like a door_

_my words were uncertain  
like fingers fumbling  
with bra clasps  
using the grammar  
of a long dead language –  
I saw your leather boots were  
like a cloud of animals  
gathered at your feet  
(once the boots were off,  
your toes were like pebbles  
at the bottom of a creek)_

_my stomach stood on a stepladder  
the first time I kissed you,  
your tongue slipping past my lips  
like hot glass, your fresh lips roses  
blooming on my face,  
your breath a furnace_

_summer breezes whispered  
in the palm fronds  
as heat haze roiled  
over polished waters  
and looking deep  
into my eyes  
you whispered:  
"beauty is the hardest  
thing to live with"_

_By Aria Montgomery  
Lolita_

I'm very impressed with what they wrote. It's so raw, and so spectacular. I call aria, and talk to her about her and her friends writing. I am blown away. I knew you aria could write, but i didn't know she could **write.**

**Thanks so much for reading and I'm sorry this isn't as good as before. I lost my mojo or something. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A lot of dialogue and scenes were taken from the TV show. I did not create these, But I did change them a tiny bit. Tell me what you think. Reviews keep me going. **

Aria p.o.v:

I was with my friends after school in my room, when ezra called me. I motion for my friends to be quiet for a second. "Hello?" I ask. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you. About your poem. Well, all of your friends poems," Ezra says.  
"Why? What for?" I ask. "They're really good Aria. Especially yours." Ezra says. "Thank you," I smile. "I'm not even kidding. I was thinking about publishing my own book of poems, and I was wondering if I could actually get it published, would you all would want your poems to be in them?" He asks. "Uh, yeah, of course. That would be awesome!" I say, grinning. "I'm gonna put you on speaker to talk to all of us at once, okay?" I ask. "Yeah, okay." Ezra says. I do as I say, ezra explains it very briefly, and my friends say yes.

School resumes pretty normally, and everything goes back to normal. After about 4 months of ezra typing away at his typewriter, he calls me after getting out of a meeting with a publisher in New York. It's a Tuesday, and ezra skipped school to do this. He took a sick day, but I mean, this is a great opportunity if it actually happens.

"They said yes!" He says happily before I even say hello. "Oh my god, that's so exciting! I'm so happy for you!" I grin. "He said it will take about half a year to get it sellable and ready, but he said yes!" Ezra exclaims. "I have to go, but congratulations." I say warmly. "Thanks. And to you." He says.  
I finish the school day, and I drive home to do a ton of homework.

I'm so exhausted from school and homework that I pass out. The rest of the school year goes by really slowly, but It still goes by. My friends and I have started looking at colleges since we're juniors. I've been so busy, that i haven't had the time. Ezra actually got together with me to suggest some colleges, since we're practically the same person. He told me what his top five colleges were, and that I should take a look at them, along with whatever else I wanted to do. Parent teacher conferences happened two days ago, and Ezra hasn't been talking to me. I mean he's been talking to me, but not like normal. I can tell something's wrong, like he's holding something in. It'll probably be best to wait until he brings it up, because I don't want him to feel pressured into telling me what's on his mind. But if it takes too long, I'm definitely going to ask him.

I get to class a couple minutes early, and ask him how they went. "It was okay, your dad actually offered me a job in Oregon. He said he knew someone there that could hook me up." He says, looking into my eyes. "Why? You already have a job." I say. "There's one class available, and it could lead to something more," he says, shuffling papers into a stack. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. "Why would you need something more?" I ask, confused. "Truth is, I need something less. Working as a professor would give me more time for my writing," he says. "Teaching here hasn't kept you from your writing, has it? I mean you wrote a whole book of poems that's being published in a couple of months." I tilt my head, waiting for his reply. "Not entirely," he says, "but I have to think about the future." "So you're planning on leaving here?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. "Eventually.. But you are too, leaving eventually." He states. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion when a kid walks in. I sigh and go back to my seat to get my stuff out since class would be starting too. Students pile in, and I spend most of the lesson trying to figure out what he meant. "I'll meet you guys at lunch, I have to ask Mr. Fitz a question about the homework." I tell them, even though they already know. Hanna smirks at me, and I just roll my eyes.  
"Why were you talking about your future verses our future?" I ask, and my words come out really fast. "Because they may not be linked." He says. I just open my mouth in disbelief. "I'm not saying I'm leaving here tomorrow, but let's face it, we are not tied to this place forever." He says.

He moves his mouth trying to think of something to say. "You, looking at colleges in California, which you have every right to do," he says. "One," I hold up a finger angrily. I looked at one college in your favorite city. We could move there together!" I say, throwing my hands in the air. "Aria," he says, "that's not how things work."  
"Why can't it, if we want It to?"  
"The whole point of college is to broaden you world, not pack up your high school English teacher, and bring him with you." He sighs. "You're not just my high school English teacher!" I say angrily. "Is that how you see yourself?" I ask, taking a step back.  
"No," he looks into my eyes. "But you will. When the time comes." He sighs, walking to the door. "How can you say that? Where the hell do you think you're going? We are not done with this!" I yell angrily. I push his chest into the door. "Agh!" He yells in pain. He turns around."What do you want me to say, Aria? That you're going to grow up and go to college, and experience things that I already have, and you're going to leave me? Because that's what's gonna happen , and I'm just telling you so you'll be prepared. Because you know it's true." He warns. "We'll figure out a way around it, like we always do," I finally settle. He's walked back over to the desk. He pauses. "I used to think that," he says, looking off into space, "but I'm not so sure.. anymore." He looks at me again.  
"What are-what are you saying? Are you-are you giving up on us?" I stutter as I ask him. "No, no,no.." He says quickly. He tries to talk, but he can't say anything. you're sad or can't think of what to say. At this point, I still don't know what he's feeling. "We've been trying to make this work for a long time, and-" I cut him off. "And what? What?" I ask loudly, tears pooling quickly in my eyes, starting to blur my vision. "And-and-and as much as we love each other, I think we are deluding ourselves into believing that it can't." He says, a little shakily. I breath in air, and turn away from him, trying not to let my tears fall. There's too much water in my eyes, so tears start falling down the side of my cheek. "I have class in a few minutes." He says, standing up. I open my mouth to try to say something, anything, and nothing comes out. He opens the door for me, I grab my backpack and on my way out, I ram the side of my body into his, while angrily trying to get through. I hear him say "I'm so sorry." I walk toward my last class, which is Chemistry, while I breathe in deeply, and wipe the tears off my cheek. I'm so thankful I had waterproof mascara. I try to forget about what happened, at least until I'm alone. My seats next to Spencer, and she asks me where I've been. "I'm not really in the mood to talk about it," I mumble, and class starts, it goes by quickly, and once the bell rings, I walk quickly to my car, because I know I'm about to cry. I can feel it, so I shut my eyes for a second, and the second I close my car door, I let all my tears out. I put my arms on the steering wheel, and once it's been about 7 minutes, I try to calm myself down so I don't throw up. I stop on the way home to get a snack since I missed lunch. I realized that I'm right next to Ezra's apartment complex, so my legs eventually walk me up to Ezra's room. I storm in without announcing myself, he's sitting there, staring into a cup of scotch. "I'm not sleeping tonight until I say this." I say. He gets up, and stands across from me. "Aria, I.." He starts to say.

"You have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow. Nobody does. My friend Alison, she didn't, she didn't even get a future, she didn't even get to turn sixteen." I cut him off. "Listen, I.." He says. "No, let me finish." I take a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm going to end up in California, or some fishing village in Guam," I sigh. "It doesn't matter. We're here now. Can't we just have that?" I ask. He cups my cheeks in his palm and kisses me. He intertwines our hands, and we break apart. "I'm so sorry aria. I didn't mean what I said I've just been so flustered with this book, and this job and you're right, I don't know what's going to happen. I'm really really sorry." He kisses my hairline. We hug for over a minute, and I end up staying for dinner. He tells me that the book may be finished sooner then he thought. It comes out in stores next month, because the publishing company has been working their butt off to get this out before summer starts. "Congratulations, Ezra! I am so proud of you. And if you want to concentrate more on your writing, you should. You should take that job in Oregon, because you would be so good there." I say. He just smiles and squeezes my hand. "Thank you, Ar," he says, "I love you. I called and told them no, Aria. They said if I changed my mind, they would love to have me, though, so that's good, I guess," he says. "Thats really good. And I love you too." I smile at him.

I decide to go home and do the rest of my homework, like a good child. I tell my mom about Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and my own poem that made it's way into Ezra's book. Of course I don't say Ezra, I just say he thought they were so good, which he does think. "Does said book have a name yet?" She asks. "I'm not sure. But he said he'd announce it once it's in stores." I shrug. "I'll watch for it." She says. "Me too." I smile. I go upstairs and do some homework. I eventually fall asleep, dreaming about Ezra and his book.


	14. Chapter 14

**Oh my god. I was just re reading the first chapter and I realized that I accidentally deleted about 3 paragraphs. That's why there's that huge jump. I am so sorry. Anyway, enjoy!**

Aria p.o.v:  
"Just the person I wanted to talk to!" Ezra exclaims as I bump into him in the coffee shop. I glance around at the other people, but no one seems interested in our conversation.  
"Maybe we should talk later." I tell him, glancing around. Rosewood is a small town, and rumors get around fast. "Meet me at the apartment?" He mumbles.  
"Now?"  
He nods and I leave a couple minutes after him and follow the trial to his apartment.  
"The book comes out in 13 days!"  
"Oh my god!"  
"I cannot believe this is actually happening, Ezra!"  
I kiss him, for the first time in a while.  
"I have to go do trigonometry homework," I sigh.  
"I can help," ezra laughs.  
"No you can't," I laugh.  
"I know, call me if you need anything. Have fun doing pointless math," he comments.  
"Oh trust me, I will."

I drive to Emily's house where all my friends and I decided to meet to do trig homework.  
"Guess what guys? I have some news!"  
"You're excited to do math? Your hamster died- oh wait, I know! You made me cookies!" Hanna guess. "What-no!"  
I smile at her.  
"Ezra's book is being published in thirteen days!" I grin. "Oh my god, that's so soon!" Emily says happily.  
"I know. I can't believe he actually went through with it. He said he wanted to ever since he was in high school but.." I ramble.  
"You know what, nevermind. Let's just do this," I say, opening our trigonometry book.  
We finish all our homework and we talk about things while we wait for a tv show to come on. Once it's over, we all go home, because it's late.

Ezra's been a lot happier lately. Next Tuesday, ezra asked me to stay after class.

"Hey I have something for you." He says. "Oh yeah?" I raise my eyebrows. He hands me something that's wrapped up, with a card. It's not my birthday, and it's not our anniversary, and it's not a holiday.

I shove it in my backpack and meet my friends for our last class. When I get home later today, I lock my door and open Ezra's present. It's a book with a red cover on it that says "On The Shelf by E. Fitzgerald" I guess that's his pen name or something. I open it and my eyes fall upon the only 6 words on the page. "Dedicated to my partner in crazy," I smile, and run my hands along it. I flip a little bit more until I find where it begins.

_Her_

_Her brown doe eyes  
Her amazing smile  
Her lovely laugh  
Her smooth dark wavy hair  
Her adorable nose  
Her plush lips  
Her pale face  
Her expressive eyebrows  
Her dainty fingers  
Her eyes that smile when she's happy  
Her little legs  
Her quirky clothing  
And her way with words  
Are not the things  
That kept me coming back  
Because when I met her  
I knew none of those things  
I saw none of those things  
Yet I felt like I was in love  
From a million miles away._

I take a breath in, realizing that this is about us. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, and flip the page.

_It was just a book on a shelf  
An enigmatic little thing  
It was red,  
It was new  
So I opened it.  
The handwriting was a girl's.  
I mean, you can tell.  
That enchanted cursive.  
All I know is,  
Is that about two months later,  
All hell broke lose.  
"I hate you," she yelled.  
"You won't even give us a chance.  
You are an asshole!"  
"I changed my mind," I sighed,  
"Knowing you're my soulmate.  
I can't live without you." I blushed.  
It may have been just a moment to you  
But it changed every single moment after that for me.  
And that's how it all started._

I half smile at the end. The book is about 100 pages long. I continue reading. It's basically reliving our relationship, along the way, Ezra incorporated all three of my friends poems, bits and pieces into one.  
And mine. I never realized it, but it really fits into our situation. Except for the fact that I actually love Ezra, and Lolita didn't love Humbert.

It's really happy and wonderful until I get to the part about ezra and I fighting about our future. Anyway, by the time I finish it. I have tears in my eyes. Not sad tears, but happy tears.

When I check the time, I realized that It took me two and a half hours to read the book. continue flipping to the back of the book, for the Author's note.

Dear B-26,  
We've been through so much, and I just wanted you to know that I will always love you. No matter what. Our situation may not be the best, or the easiest, but it's still manageable. I love you, my partner in crazy. Never forget that.  
Love, E

I use the palm of my hand to wipe off the remaining tears that are about to fall. I dial his number.  
"Hey," he says.  
I make the sound that you make when your nose is sniffling.  
"What's wrong, Ar?" He asks.  
"I opened the gift you have me.."  
"And?"  
"It was beautiful, Ezra."  
"You liked it?"  
"I loved it, it made me cry. Ezra, I'm so sorry for what I said to you.. When I yelled at you. Thanks for loving me." I laugh.  
"You're welcome." He chuckles.  
"I love you so much, Ezra." I sigh.  
"Why are you sighing?"  
"I just miss you. I miss kissing you." I mumble.  
"I saw you today." He laughs.  
"I know." I sigh.  
"Come over." He suggests.  
"What?"  
"Come over. It's only 6:00."  
"Okay. Sure." I say.  
I tell my mom I'm spending the night with Hanna and I drive to ezra apartment.  
The second I open the door, ezra kisses me, and I slam his back into his door as we furiously kiss each other.

Anyway, we end then night cuddling together, with naked bodies and limbs tangled together.  
"Ezra?" I whisper.  
"Mhm?"  
"I loved your book. You are truly something special. Thanks for writing about me." I smile at him.  
"Thanks for giving me something to write about. I love you." He kisses my forehead and laces our fingers together.  
"I love you too." I say, snuggling into his side.


	15. Chapter 15

"Aria?" Hanna asks on the other end of the phone.

"What?"

"Where are you, bitch? I thought we were meeting for coffee early before school?"

"Shit! I forgot. And Excuse me...Bitch isn't a term of endearment."

"I'll meet you at school, I-i- just meet me at school, okay?"

"Okay.."

"Ezra!" I call, rolling over. I hear the shower running. I poke my head in.

"Hurry up! We're late for school, ezra!"

"I'm almost done." He says.

"I need to shower too!" I sigh.

"Join me." He laughs. I slip my clothes off and sigh as the water hits my back.

"Did you sleep okay?" He asks looking into my eyes.

"Next to you, I did. It was lovely." I smile and laugh at him.

"That's good."

He rinses out his hair before he kisses me lightly on the shoulder. He gets out and lets me finish my shower.  
Since I didn't bring any clothes, ezra lets me borrow a Hollis sweatshirt, the one that smells like him, and i re wear some turquoise skinny jeans that I left here about a month ago. I'm glad I found them. We rush to his car.

"So when is your book coming out into stores?" I ask, scratching my elbow.

"Tomorrow."

"Can I show my friends the book? They want to see it. And so does my mom."

"Your mom?"

"Yeah..." I say awkwardly.  
He gulps.

"Hey, calm down, she only knows that our poems are in them, not what it's about. Okay?"

"Yeah. Oh, and by the way, I got three more copies besides yours. You can give to Hanna, Emily and Spencer. They're in the trunk, if you want them now."

"Thank you!" I say happily, kissing his cheek.

He drops me off a block from school, I take the books from the trunk, put them in my purse,and I walk the rest of the way.

"Hey guys," I tell them as I meet them by Emily's locker before chemistry.

"Hey, Ar."

"I need to show you guys something at lunch."

"Okay."

Spencer and I walk into chemistry while Emily and Hanna go to their other classes. By the time lunch comes, I'm kind of excited about showing them the book, and kind of not excited about showing them the book. Hanna probably won't understand it completely, just because she's Hanna. Not saying she's not smart, but...You know what I mean. And Emily and Spencer probably will. I know spencer will the most. She can read me like a book.

"Hey," I say as I start taking out my lunch.

"You said you wanted to show us something, right?" Hanna asks.

"Yeah, I actually have something to give you. It's from ezra. He gave me mine last night," I explain.

I hand each of my friends their own copy of their books which are wrapped in newspaper.

"He's a great wrapper," Spencer smirks.

"Shut up," I laugh.

They each silently explore the book, while I watch.

"Can you please read them later by yourself?"

"Oh, okay." They all agree.

We eat and talk, and end the school day quickly.

I go home and reread his book slowly. I never really thought about the things he thought about before.

_The moment_

_The day I got offered a job in Oregon  
My life changed.  
Our life changed.  
"We'll figure a way around it,  
like we always have," she states.  
"I used to think that...,"  
I look into her captivating brown eyes. "But I'm not so sure anymore."  
"What are-what are you saying?  
Are you-are you giving up on us?"  
She stutters, like she is about to cry.  
"No, no.." I reassure her.  
My throat swells up  
Like it does when you're about to cry and you can't speak  
and you feel awful.  
"We've been trying to make this work for a long time, and-" she cuts me off.  
"And what? What?"  
Her eyes grow large,  
demanding answers,  
needing them to continue living.  
Pools of tears form  
and threaten to fall down her cheek  
if I say something that would  
make them do that.  
"And as much as we love each other, we are deluding ourselves into believing that it can't," I say, my throat still dry.  
In that moment  
She turns away from me  
And her tears cascade down her face  
Like a blazing waterfall  
It hurts me to see her this way  
To know that I'm the reason she cries  
That I'm the reason she's in pain  
And that I'm the reason she's unhappy  
And that makes me really dispirited  
So while I leave to go teach my next class  
My mind is filled with pictures of her crying face  
And I can't help but cry myself_

I feel kind of bad for accusing him of not loving me in the beginning. When I called him an asshole and told him I hated him. That's what I mean. And especially for when I made him cry when I cried. I never realized he felt as much pain as I did because he saw me in pain. But i flip the page and reread the turning point of our fight, which makes me smile a little. At least I know he was happy that I was happier than before.

_The apartment_

_Thank god she barged into my apartment that night  
Without even knocking  
But I didn't care  
Because she was home.  
"You have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow. Nobody does,"  
she breathes deeply  
concentrating on my bloodshot eyes.  
"Listen, I-" try to interrupt.  
But with her,  
there's no interrupting.  
But I like that,  
For some strange reason.  
"No let me finish,"  
she closes her eyes,  
and pauses for a second.  
"I have no idea  
I'm going to end up in California,  
or some fishing village in Guam.  
It doesn't matter. We're here now.  
Can't we just be happy that we have that?" She asked, searching me with her eyes for an answer.  
I cup my hands around her  
delicate face  
And I connect our lips  
Because that  
speaks louder than words.  
"Good answer," she smiles  
Her beautiful smile  
And knowing that I made her smile  
Makes me feel better  
It makes me feel whole._

I continue reading, and I finish it again.

I keep going until I get to the very last page. It's a handwritten note from ezra. I didn't see it before. It says:

_Aria,  
I never expected to feel this kind of connection we have, I never expected to be in this kind of situation with you, and I never expected to fall in love with you. I can't go back in time. We all know that. Even if I could, I wouldn't. Because that might've messed up the chance of us meeting each other through that moleskin notebook. Idealistically, we don't have the most practical relationship, but I would never change that, as long as it meant that I could continue to be In love with you. So what? Does it really matter that in theory, we're a lot more wrong than we are right? Because when together, it feels like the world stops. All of my thoughts are consumed by you, by your smile, by your laugh, and and it feels good. It feels so good to know that I've found someone amazing. My soul kind of saw you and then It kinda went "Oh there you are. I've been looking for you." Aria, I knew we were soul mates before I even knew your name. My point is, I love you. You may not always have me, but you'll have the feeling of me for the rest of your life, through this book, and through memories. In case something happens to me, since I know you will always have this book, here's some advice that I want you to always remember: Love at every opportunity you are given. Embrace each day. Be less afraid. Cry when you need to, it'll make you feel better. You were put on this planet to feel everything you could, do that. Everything works out in the end. I promise. Including us._

_Love always,  
Your partner in crazy._

I get a text from Spencer, asking me to call her.

I do, and she picks up on the second ring.

"I just finished his book," she states, breathing loudly.

"And?"

"I'm so sorry, Ar."

"Why?"

"You guys have been through so much together. I had no idea," she sighs.

"It's okay, really. Don't feel sorry."

"I hope it works out in the end for you two, I really do. I kind if ship you two." She says, laughing.

"What's that?" I ask, confused.

"When you ship a couple together, like you think they're cute and you love their relationship. I know it's kinda creepy, being your best friend and all. I don't care. I ship Ezria."

I laugh. "You ship what?"

"Ezria? Ezra and Aria. Like how we're team Sparia." She giggles.

"What the hell Spencer, are you on drugs?" I snort.

"No. I'm not. Anyway, all jokes aside, I loved the book. Tell Ezra I said he's an amazing writer, and that the story was beautiful."

"Yeah, okay."

"Ooh, and tell him I loved how he incorporated our poems into it."

"I will.. I have to go. See you later."

"Okay, bye."

I hang up the phone and I get a text from Emily saying she was really impressed with the book, and she loved it. I also get a text from Hanna, even though it's five and a half hours later, she tells me she finished it. I'm glad they got to read it, even though I feel like I just let my friends know about the most personal and private part of my life. I can't believe this is actually a book, and that this is actually going to be read by people.

I get a text from Ezra while I'm taking a shower. Once I'm dressed, I read what he said:

Hey, Aria. Today your mom asked me about my book. I gave her a copy and I told her she can keep it. I'm just telling you, so you won't be startled If she asks you about it. Good night, love.

I smile at it. Just then, like if it's on cue, my mother walks in, holding Ezra's books.  
"So I guess you got a copy too?" She laughs, looking at me, reading a part of Ezra's book I skipped over.

"Yeah," I laugh, "He wanted me to read it. With our poems in it."

"That's right, I forgot. I haven't read your poem yet.." She says.

"It's near page 250ish. But read the whole book, or it won't really make sense. It's in bold, all four of our poems are in bold," I explain.

"Thanks, sweetie. I can't wait to read it. I'm gonna go read it now," she says.

"Okay," I say awkwardly.

**What do you think Ella's reaction to the book should be? Should she suspect Ezria, or should she just compliment the writing. I'my pretty sure that I'm going to make Ezra'a book become a best seller but I mean it takes time, so I don't know how to do that. Can you all give me some ideas because I literally am so stuck. I dont know what I should do. Just tell me anything, and i'll definitely think about it.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I need more ideas. I literally have none. Please review(:**

About two hours later, my mom comes into my room.

"Wow, that was amazing. I had no idea Ezra could write like that. And your poem was so good. You are gonna be a big deal someday, honey. I guarantee it."

"I know," I smile, "And thank you. That means a lot to me."

She takes a seat on the side of my bed.

"I wonder what Ezra's book is inspired by. I mean you can tell that there's a like a strain in his relationship or something," she comments.

"I heard that he was or is still involved with a student," she says nonchalantly, "and I heard in the teacher's lounge that that's what the book is about. Him and his student."

"Oh, really?" I mumble, awkwardly. Really awkwardly.

"Yeah," she laughs, "it's probably just petty gossip. Ezra's a smart man, he would be smart enough to stop anything going on. I mean, it's not like he's going to put his job on the line for some fling. Have you heard about anyone?" she asks.

"What? No." I laugh for a split second while asking her what she's talking about.

"But would it be so bad if he was involved with a student? I mean you said yourself, that there's barely any age difference," I ask nervously.

"Yeah, but that's the not the point. He's a teacher. And if I found out he abused his power like that, I'd be really disappointed."

"Yeah," I mumble under my breath.

I brush a piece of hair out of my face.

My mom starts walking out the door, but then she stops in the doorway, and turns around.

"You know, I take that back. I'd feel more then disappointed. I'd feel betrayed."

I suck in air at that last comment, and sit down on my bed, sighing. I don't know what I'm going to do when I tell my mom. I mean we can't stay a secret forever. And she's my mom. She knows everything. And she'll figure it out, eventually, if she doesn't suspect anything now. At this point, I'm ready to look up "how to keep your seven years older teacher boyfriend a secret from your parents" because I'm pretty sure whatever I do, they'll find out. My mom would be devastated, and would feel betrayed like she said, and my dad would hate me. My brother probably would too. I fall asleep, thinking about all of this.

The next day, in Ezra's class. He hands back everyone's writing pieces. He told me, (and I told my friends), that he submitted our poems (and two others) to the school literary magazine. It comes out in about a month.

When school ends, I get a text from Ezra asking me to meet him at his apartment.

Once I am settled, we sit on the couch.

"Did your mom ask you about my book?" He asks, leaning against the side of my desk.

"Yeah," I say, scratching the back of my neck, looking down.

"What happened?"

"Well, she told me, that, uh, well, she uh, said your book was really well written."

"No, Aria. Did she say anything-" I cut him off.

"She told me he heard a rumor around about you and a student," I look at him, "but then she said it was probably just petty gossip,"

He just bites the inside of his lip.

"She asked me if I heard anything, and I told her no," I push a piece of hair back behind my ear.

"Then what?" He sighs.

"Would it be so bad if he was dating his student? I mean, there's barely any age difference," I say, "I mean that's what I asked her,"

"What did she say, Aria?" He asks, running his hand through his hair.

"She told me that's not the point. He's a teacher and if she found out he abused his powers like that., she'd be really disappointed," I sigh, and look at him, tears started to build, thinking about what it would be like when my mom finds out about us.

"Aria," he says, worriedly.

"No, that's not it, Ezra. She turned around, and she told me that she would feel betrayed," i breathe out deeply so I don't start crying.

"My mom's never been hurt by me before," I wipe a tear that starts to fall down my cheek with the back of my hand, "and this is real life, Ezra. You know they're gonna try to get you arrested," I look up at him.

He uses his thumb to wipe away a tear on my cheek.

"No matter what happens, you know I love you, right?" He whispers.

"I know, I'm just really scared," I squeak, "I don't want to lose you," I look into his eyes.

He gently takes my face in his hands and caresses my cheeks with his thumb gently.

"You won't. I'm here. I'll always be here." He whispers.

I press my lips against his. His arms wraparound my torso, pulling me even closer as he deepened the kiss.  
After a while, we pull apart out of breath.

"I love you, Aria," he says. "I love you too." I smile at him.


	17. Chapter 17

**I kind of forgot that I was writing the past chapters during "Junior year". But the way I've written these last few i thought they were Seniors for some reason. So pretend they are all seniors now. I'm sorry for the confusion. Please review. I'll love you forever.  
P.s I'm sorry this skipped so much time and moved so fast, but I was getting so bored with the plot. Haha I literally am making this up along the way. So I don't know. I kind of have an idea of what to do, but not really.**

**Ella P.O.V:**  
"Byron, have you noticed anything about Aria lately?" I ask, coming to sit beside him at the dinner table.

"Like what?" He asks.

"Like she hasn't been home as much lately," I say, frowning.

"That doesn't mean anything is wrong. It's Aria we're talking about. She's not as perfect as the Hastings, but she's still pretty darn good," Byron says.

"I know that Byron, it's just... I feel like she's keeping secrets from us. She used to tell us everything," I sigh.

"She hasn't been here as much because she wants to spend time with her friends before they all go separate ways to college. You can't assume anything, Ella. And even if she is hiding something, it's most likely for a reason, and if not, I don't know what to tell you,"

"I guess you're right," I sigh, getting my purse. "Have a good day at work," I peck his cheek. "You too," he says.

**Aria P.O.V:**  
I get to school early so I can talk to Ezra before 1st period. He called and told me he needed to talk to me.

"Hey," I say, waiting for him to turn around.

"Come live with me in New York," he says quietly when he sees me.

"What?" I ask confused.

"I applied for a job at Columbia about a month ago and I got the job three days ago. It starts at the beginning of the year. You could go to school there, and you have a good chance of getting in because you're extremely smart and talented, and if you don't want to, that's okay too. I just found out I own an apartment there, and it's the perfect amount of space for us. But your mom wouldn't have to know. We can let her think you're buying it yourself for yourself. It's close to campus, and it kind of makes sense. Just think about it, Aria," he breathes out deeply.

"Woah, slow down. What do you mean you 'just found out you own an apartment' and why didn't you tell me you got the job?"

"Well, my grandparents left it in their will. I haven't been there before though. So I don't know. And I'm sorry I didn't tell about the job. I've been kind of busy with the book and all, I kinda forgot about it myself," he explains.

"I'll do it."

"You will?" He grins.

"Well, I mean I have to apply there first, but if I get in, I'll do it. Plus my backup school was NYU anyways," I smile.

"I love you, Aria!" He whispers.

"I love you too," I smile.

He pecks me quickly on the lips, and I go to my seat and start reading a book until school starts. Students start flooding in, and my day begins.

When I get home, I get my mom to help me with my application to Columbia, NYU, plus a couple other back up back up schools. Spencer applied to Columbia and UPenn, either way I'm excited for her. Hanna applied to Hollis and UPenn, and another small college in Philadelphia I forgot the name of. Emily applied to Stanford, Danby, and Hollis college. I'm excited for all my friends, but I'm sad that we're all leaving.

*2 1/2 months later (not an accurate time)*

Our acceptance/ rejection letter came from all of the colleges this past week. I have great news. Spencer and I are going to Columbia together, Hanna is going to this really amazing fashion school here in Pennsylvania, and Emily is going to Stanford for a swimming scholarship with her girlfriend, Paige. I am so happy for all my friends. I can't believe the school year is ending. I'm finally graduating! I told my parents about Ezra's apartment. Well, I mean I told them about an apartment I found, and they agreed I could live there.

Ezra's book has become a lot more popular. I'm pretty sure, sooner or later, it's gonna become a bestseller (only joking. But you never know).

The day of graduation was so happy and sad at the same time. My friends as I had this huge graduation party together, and we hung out during the summer before we had to leave our separate ways for college. Before I know it, I'm saying bye to my friends, and moving my stuff into Ezra's apartment. There were movers to move my stuff, because I didn't want my parents going in. I have about a week before classes start, and I'm so excited.


	18. Chapter 18

**Do you guys have anything you want to happen when Aria's parents come? Do you think they should bring mike with them? I think I'm going to make them bring him. And also, what should happen with Emma and Natalie? Thank you for reading, and please review, and give me suggestions about what you want to happen, or like how to improve my writing!**

Aria p.o.v:

Over the past week, I have loved every minute of living together with ezra. There hasn't been any problems, which i am very happy about. His new apartment is only a tiny bit bigger than his old one, and he added all of his books and posters and stuff, so it looks kind of similar to his old one, but it's different too. We started classes three weeks ago, and I love it. College is so much different from high school. I love it. I have one class with Spencer, but it's college, so there's not much time for talking during the classes anyway. I've already met a couple friends and I'm really excited for everything. I'm taking painting classes too, which is really fun.

Anyway, I picked up coffee for Ezra and I, so I'm going to bring it to his class. His class ends in three minutes, and mine ended an hour ago.

Emma p.o.v:

"Professor Fitz is so hot. He's my new English professor," I tell my bestfriend Natalie.

"I haven't seem him around yet," she comments.

We're siting on a bench eating lunch, people watching.

"Who's that?" I ask, pointing to a really short girl. She has long brown hair, and big brown eyes. She's really pretty, and she dresses, well... Uniquely. Quirky. That's a better word.

"Um, she's a freshman. She's in one of my classes," Natalie says, " I think her name is like, Ariel, or Ariana or something. It's Aria! Now I remember,"

Professor Fitz's door opens, and kids leave the room. I see him walk outside, and Aria walks up to him. She hands him a cup of coffee, and he smiles at her. She whispers something to him, and they both start walking away.

"Why would she be getting him coffee?" I ask.

"It's just coffee? I don't see the big deal." Natalie says.

"What if they're a thing?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

"Maybe they're just friends," Natalie shrugs.

"Want to follow them?" I ask, kind of jokingly, kind of not.

"Why not?" Natalie asks.

"I feel like a stalker." I mumble, as we keep following them, but from a distance.

"You should," Natalie snorts.

I roll my eyes and pretty soon, we're in the parking lot.

Their cars are right next to each other, so they both are leaning against their own cars having a conversation.

Aria p.o.v:  
"I need to talk to you," I mumble into his ear. He follows me to our cars parked side by side, but since nobody's really in the parking lot, we're leaning up against our own cars.  
"My mom called me and she told me she's coming in this weekend to visit,"

"Oh shit," he says.

"Yeah, well, maybe you could stay with someone so she doesn't find out," I suggest, "that sounded rude, I'm not trying to kick you out of your own apartment,"

"Hey, it's your apartment too now. I'll stay with Hardy. It's really no big deal. He won't even care. I've been meaning to see him anyway,"

"Really? Thank you so much, I love you." I smile.

"I love you too," I say, kissing his cheek.

"Wait, Aria. When do you think would be a good time to tell your parents about us?" He clears his throat, and tilts his head to the side.

"When they're in a good mood," I joke.

"No, seriously. We should go back to rosewood, and tell them, maybe during the summer," he says.

"Okay," I sigh.

"What? You don't think it's time to tell them?" He asks. He grabs my hands in his.

"I do, ezra, I just, I don't know how they'd react. We've been thinking about doing this for at least two years, and now that the time has finally came, I'm just scared. What if something happens to you?" I ask.

"Well, you're 18, so you're not a minor. And nothing happened while I was your teacher. Well, I mean it did, but, you don't have to tell anyone. And I'm not your teacher anymore. So they can't do anything that would get me in trouble," he smiles.

"I guess you're right," I grin.

He kisses my knuckles. "We'll be fine. They might act like Sarah and Paul," he says.

"Yeah I doubt it. Sarah and Paul were just really easy," I comment.

"Your parents might be easy, too," he shrugs.

I snort. "This is my mom and dad we're talking about, Ezra."

"Let just wait until the winter break. We can tell them then."

"Okay, deal." I say.

I kiss his cheek. "I'm hanging out with Spencer and her roommate tonight. My parents are coming tomorrow at like noon,"

"Okay, I'll just leave later tonight." He says.

"Okay, I love you. Thank you, Ezra." I kiss him.

"I love you too." He says.

We drive separate ways.

Emma P.O.V:  
"I was right!" I laugh.

"Natalie, can you come with me to the art wing? I need to pick up my pottery," I say.

"Okay," she says.

We walk toward the art wing, and after about 20 minutes of walking, we finally get there, but I hear voices inside.

I see Aria. She's oil painting at an easel. There's another voice in the room. "Spence, I don't know what to do!" I hear Aria say.

"Spence," Natalie whispers. "Isn't that short for Spencer? She's dating someone else?" Natalie whispers.

"Shhh," I whisper.

A taller girl who looks slightly preppy, but really nice comes into view. It looks like she's pacing, or trying to come up with a plan.

"Just tell your mom and dad the truth. During the winter break. It's far away, so you have time to think, but if you lie, they'll know. Because they're your parents," supposedly 'Spence' says.

"Spencer," Aria whines.

"What Aria? You've been dating him for two years. Plus you didn't even meet while he was your teacher. Doesn't that count for something?" Spencer asks.

"No, it doesn't. Not for my parents. Okay, do you know what my mom said to me, after she read Ezra's book, after I asked her would it be bad if a teacher were to date his student?" Aria stops painting. She sets her brush down, and turns to Spencer.

"What did she say, Ar?" Spencer pulls a chair up next to Aria.

"She told me that she would be disappointed, Spencer. And guess what happened next? She turned around, and she told me she would feel betrayed." Aria sighs.

"Aria-" Spencer starts to say.

"No, Spencer, you don't get it? Remember when my dad cheated on my mom with his student? Remember how that affected her? She's just finished getting over that! I can't just drop this on her. She'll be even more betrayed because both of us did it!" Aria whispers.

"Yeah, but you love Ezra, right?" Spencer asks

"Yeah, of course!" I say.

"Okay, then let them know that. Let them know that he's your soulmate, and that it's not just some fling," Spencer says.

Aria p.o.v:  
When I left ezra, I texted spencer to meet me in the art wing to talk. Painting helps me when I'm stressed, but I needed Spencer's advice.

We talk about how I'm going to tell my parents about Ezra during Winter break.

"Aria, just calm down. Don't think about it right now. Winter break isn't even close," Spencer says.

"Yeah, well my parents are coming in this weekend, but ezra is staying with Hardy," I say.

"Nothing to worry about then," Spencer says.

I continue painting.

"I guess you're right," I mumble.

"Of course I'm right! I'm Spencer Hastings!" She laughs.

I just start laughing and painting.

Then these two girls walk in.

"Hey," I say, even though I've never met them before.

"Hey, I'm Natalie, this is Emma." A girl says, pointing to another girl.

"Hey, you're in one of my classes, right?" I ask Natalie. "Yeah.. Aria, right?" She asks.

"Mhm. And this is Spencer," I introduce her.

"I'm just picking up my pottery," Emma says. She opens the door that is on the other side of this class. They connect by the door. She returns holding a clay pot.

"That's so good!" I say, smiling.

"Thanks! Your painting is really good!" Emma says.

"Thank you," I say. They both leave, and I wash my hands. Spencer and I go back to her dorm to hang out with her roommate, Jennifer. We've all gotten to be pretty good friends.


	19. Chapter 19

Ezra p.o.v:  
"Hey, Hardy?" I ask once he answers the phone.

"Ezra? How have you been?" He asks.

"Fine. Um, would it be okay if I were to stay with you for the weekend? My girlfriend, the one who's living in my apartment's parents are coming in, and they think she's the only one that lives there, and I plan to keep it that way, so I need a place to sleep for the weekend.." I explain.

"Oh, sure. I live in the same place I always have. You can come whenever." He says.

"Thank you so much!" I say.

"No problem." He says.

I finish packing my bag, and I drive to Hardy's apartment.

Aria P.o.v:  
Once we get back to Spencer and Jessica's room, we watch tv for a while and talk.

I get a text from Ezra.

I just left the apartment. Have fun with your parents.

Okay. Thanks. I love you.

I love you too.

I decide to go back to my apartment and clean things up a bit. Not like I'm messy, but since my parents are going to be here, they're going to judge. I feel kind of bad, but I take all of Ezra's picture frames and put them in a box in the closet. I took a picture of all of the picture frames before I moved anything, so that I can put them back where they were when they leave. I just don't want them seeing anything. They still don't know about us.

I set my alarm and go to sleep, trying not to think about tomorrow to much.

I wake up early to take a shower, and get ready. I straighten things up, and text Hanna until my door bell rings. The only thing that's sitting out Is a couple books but they're books, so, I guess it doesn't really matter. I haven't seen my parents in a while, and they've never seen my apartment.

"Aria!" My mom and dad say happily.

"Hey!" I smile. I hug both of them, and let them inside

"hey little big sis," Mike jokes.

"Hey Mike," I laugh.

I show them around my apartment, and thankfully I cleaned everything up.

I talk to them about all my classes.

"Did you make any new friends?" My mom asks.

"Yeah, actually I did. Spencer's roommate, Jennifer and I, we're all pretty good friends now. I also met these two girls briefly, Natalie and Emma. Natalie's in my English class, and Emma's not in any of my classes, but she was friends with Natalie I think. I met her while I was painting, she went to pick up some pottery thing she made, the rooms are connected," I try to explain.

"That sounds fantastic! How is English? I know that's your favorite subject," My dad asks.

"It's good. I mean it's college, so it's not going to be as fun or as engaging as high school was, but it's good," I say.

"What about painting? What's the deal with that?" Mike asks.

I laugh at his attempt of trying to be part of the conversation.

"Yeah, it's really cool. They have this studio that's open 24 hours, so whenever you feel like painting, or getting supplies, you can just go. It's really cool. I actually go there a lot, when I'm not busy. It's really relaxing too."

"That's nice," Mike smiles.

"How'd you get all of these books?" My mom asks. Somehow, while we were talking, she managed to slip away from us and look at all the books that cover my back wall. Truthfully, it's a combination of all of mine, and all of Ezra's books.

Oh, that's actually a cool story," I say,  
"Um, one of my Professor's daughters owns this bookstore, and they were going to throw all of these away, so she asked if anybody wanted them, and had extra space, and here we are," I hope it sounds believable.

"That's cool. I'm glad you spoke up," my mom smiles.

"Me too," I grin.

"How's the food?" My dad asks.

"Um, I make dinner myself, unless I go out with friends. There's a grocery store really close to campus, which is really convenient," I say.

"That's good."

"Mhm," I agree.

"So, overall, you're having fun?" My mom comes back over to us.

"Yeah! I'm having a blast. A cliche as this sounds, i love it so much. I never want it to end," I laugh.

"You have a while," my brother comments.

"Shut up," I laugh.

We talk a little bit and we go out to lunch. It's really nice catching up with my family.

Once we're back at my apartment, my mom asks me the question I was hoping she wouldn't."Have you met any guys yet?"

"No, mom, not yet.." I say.

"Oh, okay," thankfully, she lets it go.

We continue talking all throughout the day, and I make them dinner.

"This is pretty good for a broke college kid," Mike comments. I just laugh.

"Thank you, Mike. And I'm not broke. I have a job," I comment.

"You do? What is it?" My mom asks.

"It's like a part time job. I teach painting classes to middle schoolers who come in on Saturdays for the weekend. They didn't have class today though," I say.

"That's great!" She says happily.

"I know, and it pays pretty well," I smile.

They end up sleeping over. My mom and dad sleep in the guest room, and mike and I sleep in my room.

"It smells like cologne in here," Mike comments as he scrolls through his phone.

"Mhm," I say as I read my book, not knowing what to say.

"So you have a boyfriend, you just didn't want to tell them, right?" He asks.

"Maybe. What does it matter?" I ask.

"I was just wondering. I won't tell them," He says.

"Thank you. We're going to tell them, ourselves. This winter break.." I sigh.

"Great," he says.

We both fall asleep.

My parents and mike leave the next morning. It was great seeing them, but they got bored and decided to go home. There really isn't much to do here, and we did all the talking basically last night.

I moved all the picture frames back, and ezra and I hung out. School starts again on Monday.

"Hey, Aria, is it okay if we meet up with my old friend Eli tonight? He wanted to meet you," Ezra asks.

"Well I kind of promised I would go out with Hanna, Emily and Spencer. Hanna's here visiting her dad, and Emily went with her. They were gonna drop by to see us," I tell him, "but wait a minute. Maybe we can all go out together," I say. I text them, and they agree. We all meet at my apartment, and we decide on a restaurant. All of us sit down.

When Eli comes in, ezra introduces us.  
"Whew, Eli. A little cologne goes a long way!" Hanna laughs. We all start cracking up, even Eli, although he is obviously embarrassed. We end up having a lot of fun, but end the night since we have places to be tomorrow.

I go to my classes the next day, and I see Spencer once. While I'm waiting for Ezra's class to get out, I see Emma and Natalie waiting outside. I wave to them, and they wave back.

Emma P.O.V:  
I feel kind of like a creeper right now, but I'm really interested in Aria and Professor Fitz's relationship. I know that's kind of creepy, but I'm just curious as to why he's dating her. I heard Aria and her friend talking the other day about Ezra being her old teacher, and I heard they love each other, so that's good. It's just scandalous, so I guess that's why I'm interested.

I watch with Natalie as Aria waits by Ezra's door. She looks at her watch, and drums her fingers, like she's really anxious.

"Hey," Aria calls, not going into his class yet, even though all his students aren't in his class anymore. "You can come in," he says. We follow them, and stand outside the door, listening in. I know it's rude, but my curiosity overrules my rudeness.

"Hey, um, I forgot to tell you, but Mike knows about us," Aria whispers.

"Since when? Did he tell anyone?" Professor Fitz asks.

"No, he doesn't know about you, specifically, but he knows I'm dating a guy that I'm trying to keep a secret," she says.

"Oh," is all we hear Professor Fitz say.

"Yeah, uh, he smelled your cologne," she giggles.

"I'm sorry," he laughs.

"Yeah, anyway, I have to go, I was just stopping by," Aria says.

She kisses him quickly, and we start walking away, as she exits the door behind us.

"Hey guys, wait up," she says.

We turn around and wait.

"Emma, and Natalie, right?" He asks.

We both nod.

"I've seen you guys around, especially when I'm with Ezra," she comments.

"We're sorry, we just-" Natalie starts to say.

"No, it's.. It's okay. You're probably just a little curious. That's okay," she says.

"Wanna meet for lunch? I've been wanting some new friends, and you all seem perfect," she says.

"Sure!" We agree.

We walk together to a Panera that's a little off campus, but not that far away.

Once we bring our food back to the table, we make small talk for awhile.

"So you guys probably want to know what my deal with Fitz is," she says.

We nod.

"I can't believe I'm telling you this," she mumbles. She takes a deep breath.

"Okay, so about two years ago,when I got back from Iceland, I gave myself a makeover from the silly little girl with pink stripes in her hair, to I guess what I am now. A couple weeks before school started, I left this notebook in between two books on the shelf. It said something like:  
"I've left some clues for you.

If you want them, turn the page. If you don't, put the notebook back, please."

"And then it said something like:

Color psychology

65/14/34," She says, like It was yesterday.

"Anyway, ezra figured out the point, and we started talking to each other through the notebook. We would just like leave it around town, and ask each other questions. We eventually met, and it was like love at first sight, except a day later, we figured out that he was my English teacher. He told me we couldn't be together, and I got angry, and kind of cussed him out, and then we ended up together. He got a job as an English Professor, and I got accepted here, and that's about it," she says.

"That sounds really similar to a book I read, I was called-" she cuts Natalie off.

"On the shelf, by E. Fitzgerald,"

"How did you know I was gonna say that?" Natalie asks her.

"He wrote that, about us, actually," she blushes.

"Oh, I had no idea," she says.

"It's okay," Aria says.

We talk a lot. Aria is really cool.

Aria P.O.V:  
After explaining my love life to the curious girls I knew wanted to know more about me, I went back to the apartment, and fell asleep.

**Hey(: What should happen next? You all should give me suggestions, and I'll most likely use them. I honestly have no idea why you guys continue to read this, because I'm not that good of a writer. But suit yourself. I appreciate all of you who have followed my story from the start, and I love getting reviews, by the way. They make my day one hundred times better.**


	20. Chapter 20

Aria p.o.v:

Hey babe," Ezra sits next to me on the couch, after getting home.  
"Hey," I smile. I kiss his cheek.

"How would you like to go on a date with me?" He asks.

"Uh, okay?" I say.

"Uh, okay? Really, Aria? I need more than that," he smiles playfully.

"It would be my honor to spend the evening with you on a date," I laugh.

He just laughs too.

"I want to show you something. Tonight. On our date. Don't eat any dinner, and be ready to leave in two and a half hours. I'll pick you up outside the apartment complex. Wear a jacket. And you don't really need to dress up," he kisses me. He stands up, walking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask, confused.

"I'm getting ready. Don't question me, I have a plan," he smirks.

"Just meet me outside in two hours, okay?" He asks.

"Okay."

Once he leaves, I read for a little bit, but then I decide to get ready. I slip on a jacket, and fix my makeup a bit.

I meet ezra and get in his car.

"Where are we going?" I ask along the way.

"It's a surprise."

We end up in the park. It's dark outside.

"What are we doing here?" I ask impatient.

Ezra doesn't say anything as he parks. He just gets something out of the trunk, it's a picnic basket.

He grabs my hand, and leads me to an empty spot. The park is mostly empty, except for a few people jogging and walking around.

He spreads out a comfortable blanket, and we sit. He starts taking out Chinese takeout boxes.

"Chinese food? Really Ezra?"

"What? It's our favorite!" He smiles.

I just laugh at him.

"So we're eating Chinese food in the park? That's what we're doing on our date?" I laugh.

"No, we're eating Chinese food, under the stars," he laughs.

"How romantic of you."

"I try," he smiles.

I jokingly roll my eyes.

"So how's your fame from your book?" I ask.

"What fame?" He asks.

I just start laughing, and roll my eyes again.

"I actually have a book signing tomorrow after my classes. At that bookstore close to campus. Nothing special." He says.

"Of course it's special!"

"Not really," he says.

"Don't be modest, Ezra! This is a huge deal,"

He smiles again, "I know, I know."

"Which bookstore? The Barnes and Noble?"

"Yeah. From like 3:00 to 5:00, and 5:15 to about 7:15, and 7:30 to 8:30."

"Three hours? God, I don't think I'd be able to sit there that long. Okay. I'll drop by, along with some hot coffee,"

"Great. That's awesome. And if it gets too crowded, I'll let the security guard know in advance that I said 'Aria Montgomery can go through." He jokes.

I laugh. "That's really nice of you."

"What have you been doing in your art classes? I'm kind of curious." He asks.

"Well, it's a drawing and painting class. My professor will give us like a basic assignment, but we can experiment. Plus the studio is always open, for whenever inspiration hits."

"That's cool. Do you have a sketchbook that you carry around with you everywhere you go, or is that just in the movies?"

I blush. I fish my sketchbook out of my purse, and I'm about to put it back.

"Can I see it?" He asks, looking into my eyes.

"Well, it's kind of, personal.. I don't really like to show people.. I haven't shown anyone yet.. Plus it's not very good." I stumble for an explanation.

"It's fine. You don't have to show me. Can you draw people?" He asks.

"Yeah, but-" I start to say.

"Can you draw us sometime?" He asks.

"Sure." I say, putting it back in my purse.

We finish eating our food, and once I come back from throwing away the containers, ezra is digging in a paper bag.

"Do you want a milkshake?" He asks.

"Uh, sure?" I say.

He pulls out two cookie dough milk shakes, out of a mini freezer.

"Thank you." I say.

Once we're done with out food, we lay down and watch the stars. And then we go home.

"That was so sweet of you, Ezra. Thank you so much. I love you so much."

"You're welcome. And I love you too." He kisses me gently. We get ready for bed, and fall asleep. We both had a long day.

The next day, I go through my classes, and they go by surprisingly fast. I talked to Emily this morning on the phone. It was brief, but It was better than nothing.

It's about 4:45ish by the time I get to the bookstore. It's packed. Literally. There's a line going out the door.  
"Damn," I all I can say.

It's almost all girls, except for the unfortunate guys that got dragged along. Almost all girls love a good love story. Including myself, even though I'm technically living in one.

Should I wait in line, or should I push through, cut everyone, and go to the front. I've never been one to pick the easy route, so I go with option two. Plus I don't want Ezra's coffee to get cold.

"Excuse me," I say, cutting through.  
"I'm sorry, excuse me," I weave through people to get past the door.

"Hey, you can't do that. You need to wait in line, like everybody else," the security guard says. Some people turn to look at me.

Suddenly, I remember what ezra told me to do. "I'm Aria Montgomery. I'm just bringing Ezra some coffee, I swear," I say, showing her the coffee.

"Okay, you can go through." She says, walking away.

I walk along the never ending line, along the way, getting stopped twice by people I know.

"Aria!" I feel someone touch my shoulder. I turn to them, and it's my old babysitter, Simone,

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Getting this amazing book signed," she says.

"Oh, yeah." I laugh.

"I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I have to give someone this coffee while it's hot, so I'll be right back," I say.

I continue walking, and this time, I get stopped by Mona, Hanna's old friend. "Hey, Aria!" She says happily. I haven't seen Mona since the end of senior year. It's been a while. We were never close, but she and Hanna were.

"Hey, Mona." I smile.

"So you go to college here?" She asks.

"Yeah. At Columbia." I say.

"Oh, cool. I came here to see my cousin. She lives in New York. Plus I really wanted to meet the author of this book." She says excitedly, holding up the book.

"Don't we all," I mumble.

"What?" She asks.

"Nothing, listen. I have to go do something. It was great talking to you." I smile.

"You too." She says, happily.

I finally make it to the front of the table, and I slip around a couple people, and to the edge of the table. He's in the middle talking to some middle schooler and her mother. He signs their copy of his book, and he says "can you hold on one second?" To the girl next in line. She smiles and nods at him.

"Here's your coffee. I got pulled into a couple conversations along the way. Sorry your coffee might be cold," I laugh.

"It's okay. It's not. Do you want to pull up a chair or something?" He says.

"Uh, sure."

"Great."

"Sorry about that," he smiles to the teenage girl that was next in line.

"It's okay." She smiles at him.

"What's your name?" He asks.

"Miranda," she says, not breaking her eyes from him.

"Is this for you?" He asks.

"Yeah. It is."

"Dear Miranda,  
I hope you enjoyed the book, and I hope you end up in your own love story. You seem like a very nice person, so I know you will. Thank you for reading my story. Now go create your own.  
-E. Fitzgerald." I read as I lean over his shoulder.

"Thank you so much!" She says really happily.

"You're welcome." He smiles at her.

The next person comes up. "Is it true?" The college student asks. She had brown hair, and is standing next to a girl with blonde hair.  
"Is what true?" Ezra asks her.  
"The book? It's based off of a true story, right?" The girl asks.

"Yes," He glances at me, "Yes it is."

"I told you!" She girl nudges another girl in the side.

"What's your names?" Ezra asks them.

"Cassie," the brunette one replies.  
"Olivia," the blonde one says.  
He writes the same thing in both girls books, except he changes the name.

"Thank you for reading my book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed living it.  
-E. Fitzgerald.  
(P.s that was your reminder that what I wrote about in the book actually happened for the most part.)"

A women is standing behind the person next in line, and I recognize her as Hanna's grandma.

"Shit," I mumble.

"I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom." I say. I sneak past her, into the bathroom. I wait for about 3 and a half minutes, before I walk back to my seat. She's gone.

"What happened?" Ezra mumbles when I return.

"That was my friend Hanna's grandma. She's the sweetest woman, but she's really nosy. And if he saw me, she would have told Hanna's mom, and Hanna's mom would have told my mom.." I explain to him, as he writes a message into someone's book.

"Oh." He mumbles.  
I glance at my watch, and it's 4:53. So he gets a 15 minute break starting at 5:00.  
"What's your name?" He asks a girl in college. She has short brown hair.  
"Chelsea." She replies.

Ezra writes her and a couple people a note.

Once it's 5:00, the intercom in the store beeps. "The author is taking a 15 minute break, but he'll be right back. Please be patient."

"How are the fans?" I ask.

"It's crazy. I had no idea so many people read my book." He says, turning to me.

"I know. The line was out the door when I first got here." I say.

"Hey, will you sign my copy?" I ask, pulling the copy he gave me before it even became a book out of my purse.

"Aria, I already signed this, in the back, remember?" He asks, flipping to the back, showing me where he wrote that long note last year.

"I know. But I want you to sign it again. In the front. This time. It doesn't have to be long, though." I say.

"Aria Montgomery,  
I love you so much that I'm willing to sign this book twice.  
Yours truly, Ezra." Ezra says as he writes it, smirking.

"Thanks for the note, smartass." I playfully push him.

He makes this sound, and I start laughing.

"You're beautiful when you smile," he says lovingly, staring into my eyes.

I grin even more. He mirrors my emotion.

"I really want to kiss you right now," ezra mumbles into my ear.

"So do I." I say quietly.

"Wait, come with me!" Ezra says, grabbing my hand. He leads me to the room next to the room with the free food. He sets a timer on his watch for 5:10, so we can be back there by then."

"You're really setting a timer?" I laugh.

"Yeah. A lot of times, our kisses last a while, and we have to be back there-" he starts to explain.

"Shh. Don't want to lose any time." I whisper. We crash our lips to each other's. He pushes me against the closet door, and I grab Ezra's belt loops, and pull him closer to me. I wrap my fingers around his neck and I grip his hair in my hands.

"Ezra, don't touch my hair. We don't want them to know what we've been doing," I laugh.

"Fine," He sighs. "But I can't wait until we're alone."

"Me either."

We break apart, catch our breath and he turns the alarm off before it even has a chance it ring. I go to the room with the free cookies and I take a couple. We're just gonna end up sharing them anyway. It's already 5:10, so I find Simone, because I promised her I would be back.

"Hey, I thought you forgot about me," she laughs.

"No, I was just a little busy." I smile.

"That's okay. How far in line are you?" She asks.

"Oh, actually, I'm not really waiting in line-" I say.

"You're probably just here to browse through the books. I haven't seen you more then, maybe four times in your life where you weren't reading or holding a book." She laughs. I smile.

"Yeah. Hey, we should get together. Have lunch or something." I say. "Yeah. Call me later, we can get together."

"Okay, I will." I say. I go back toward Ezra. I want to talk to him for a little while before I have to sit in silence until his next break.

Ezra starts signing books again.

"Aria?" A voice asks. I recognize it, the second before I look up. It's my mother's.

**So I decided that right there would be a perfect opportunity for Aria's mom to find out about them. How should everything go down? Should ella ask questions first, about why Aria is at the bookstore, and then they confess, and then ella gets angry? I think that's what I'm gonna do. Thank you for all of the reviews! I love them. A lot. Keep them coming. Haha just kidding. Kind of. Anyway, thanks for reading, though. Seriously. It means a lot that people actually are reading it and enjoting it.**


	21. Chapter 21

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I ask nervously.

"I should ask you the same thing."  
She raises her eyebrows.

"I-well-um-" I get stumble. I have no clue what to say.

"We need to tell you something important," He says.

"We?" My mom asks. "What's going on?"

"I am in love with your daughter," ezra says, "I love Aria."

"I love him," I say, grabbing Ezra's hand on the table.

"What the fuck?" She asks, shocked. Might I add loudly. Her eyes are bulging by this point. "I- I-" she starts shoving through the crowd to get outside. I grab Ezra's hand and we follow her outside.

They make an announcement that we need a little bit more time. Thank god for that.

She's walking along the sidewalk. We run to catch up to her. "You lied to me, Aria!" She says, her eyes look glassy.

"I never lied to you, mom!"

"Yes you did. You told me twice, when I asked you about seeing a guy. And you denied it both times! Aria we agreed to be honest with each other, especially after what your dad did!" She sounds like she's about to cry, but there's also anger slowly brewing inside of her.

"Can I just explain myself please?!" I plead, grabbing hold of her wrist.

"I didn't want to tell you, because I knew you would hate me! Especially after what dad did to our family, I didn't want it to ruin us again. Our family was kind of back on track, and I didn't want it to fall apart because of a guy I met at a bookstore, who happened to end up being my teacher," I yell frustratedly.

"Mom, I'm really sorry. It just happened."

"What did you mean it just happened? How can you fall in love with your teacher? It's just not right, Aria! This is insane.

"Mom, I don't know how else to convince you. You read the book, right?" I ask.

"Of course I read the book, why did you think I came out here? To scope out what man is dating my only daughter?"

"That's us, mom. That's our love story. Re read it. Then come talk to me. Come talk to us. You might be able to understand."

"Where's dad?" I ask. "He was picking up food for dinner."

"Can I talk to him? I need to tell him myself."

Just then, my dad comes walking up to us. "Aria! Ezra? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, we have to tell you something. Mom knows." I says.

"What is it, honey"

"I'm in love with Aria." Ezra says.  
"I'm.. I'm in love with Ezra, too. I love him." I say, looking at my dad.

"You-you- you can't be serious!" He starts fuming.

"Dad, please-" I start to say.

"I just want you to know, I met Aria before she was assigned to my class," ezra says.

"What-what do you mean 'before she was assigned to your class'?" My dad says loudly.

"She wasn't my student-then."

"What do you mean, then?"

"Byron, I-" ezra says.

"Mr. Montgomery, I love her. I swear." He grabs my hands.

"I won't allow this to continue. Not on my watch!" He shouts.

"Ya know what dad?" I ask, getting really angry.

"What?"

"Fuck you!" I yell.

"Aria! You cannot speak to me like that!" He yells.

"You know what you are?" I say, stepping closer to my father so I'm looking at his face, even if I'm a tad shorter.

He doesn't say anything.

"You're a hypocrite! You're a liar!" I say, my voice cracking. "Aria, calm down." Ezra says quietly.

"I opened up to you, and you judged me without a reason. You are an asshole! You are an asshole!" I scream furiously, tears on my cheeks.

"Aria, shut up!" My dad whisper screams.

"No, you shut the fuck up! Time after time, you all have these expectations of your perfect daughter, and I'm sick of it! So what if the man I happened to fall in love with is a little older than me? So what if he happened to be my teacher? So what if we've been dating for two years behind everyone's backs because we knew you all were gonna react like this? Don't you all care that I'm happy? Don't you care that he was there for me when you all weren't? When you made me lie for you about your affair with mom, and it broke this family apart. And you didn't even love her! I love Ezra, okay? And he loves me." I take a deep breath.

My parents are silent.

"Okay." My mom says.

"Okay? What do you mean 'okay' ?"

"I mean I'm okay with you all. Not like it matters because you're already 18, but if you're willing to fight for something you believe in so much, then I believe you too."

"Oh my god! Really?" I grin, hugging her.

"Me too." My dad says. "You too? What? Why?" I ask, clearly confused.

"Because you made good points. Great points. And I'm so sorry." He says.

"It's okay." I say, hugging them.

"But promise me one thing." My dad says.

"What?"

"Don't use that language. At least not around me." He smiles.

I smile too. "I'm sorry. It just came out." I blush.

"Okay, ezra you should get back to your book signing thing." Ella says.

"Thank you so much. I promise, I'm taking good care of your daughter."

"You better," my mom laughs.

Ezra grabs my hands and we walk toward the building. Ezra stops abruptly. "We did it!" Ezra says, looking into my eyes. He gently pushes a piece of hair behind my ear. We're both grinning. He hugs me so tight and spins me around. He kisses me so sweetly. And it's the best feeling ever knowing that everything's gonna be alright.


	22. Chapter 22

**I am so sorry it took so long to update. I couldn't think of anything to write about because I've run out of ideas. Do any of you want anything to happen? (just ask or give me ideas in a review. I need the inspiration.) Reviews keep me going.**

Aria? What are you doing up here?" Simone asks.

"He's actually my boyfriend," I blush. I'm not used to openly saying that. It feels weird on my tongue. But I like the way it feels when I say it.

"I was wondering if you had a boyfriend," she laughs.

"You never asked," I laugh back.

"All I can see is little Aria falling asleep with her Cookie Monster puppet between her knees," she jokes.

"Actually, it was my ankles." I say, embarrassed.

"Anyway, I'm Simone. I used to babysit Aria."

Ezra raises his eyebrows.

"When I was seven to maybe like 12 years old." I say.

She nods.

"You were such a cute little girl." Simone says.

"Do you want me to sign your book?" Ezra asks, trying to help my embarrassment.

"Oh, yes. Of course. Thank you, uh-" she starts to say, but realizes she doesn't know his name.

"Ezra." He half smiles. "I loved your book."

"Thanks." He says.  
"No, thank you," She says when Ezra gives the book back. Finally she leaves.

"Do you want me to make dinner?" I ask him as the next person steps up.

"Uh, I can do it when we get home," Ezra says.

"No offense, but you'll end up burning everything, or burning yourself," I laugh.

"Yeah, you're probably right," He laughs.

"I'll just order pizza or something," I say.

"Okay," he says.

I stand up to leave, and Ezra grabs my arm.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Home," I say.

"Fine. I'll see you later. I'll just pick up a pizza on the way back." He says.

"Okay. Have fun," I smile. I kiss him quickly on the lips, because I don't really like PDA.

"Hi what's your name?" He asks the next person in line.

"Katie," the college girl replies. They talk for a second, and she leaves after he signs her book.

I drive home and wait for Ezra to come home. I study for one of my big tests coming up before break and I talk to Emily on the phone for a while.

"So they're okay with you guys?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, they said that if I was willing to fight for him then I must love him," I say, "well, they said that right after I yelled at my dad. A lot. I called him mean things, but he's okay now."

"What did you yell at him?" She asks.

"I told him that he was a hypocrite and a liar and then I called him an asshole. Twice."

"Oh my god, Aria!" She laughs.

"He deserved it," I say quickly.

"Yeah, so they're okay with it now?"

"Yeah. They even invited Ezra over for dinner on Christmas Eve," I say excitedly.

"That's great!" She says enthusiastically.

"I know. I hope they won't hold a grudge or something because of how we met."

"I mean, it's Fitz we're talking about. He's one of the nicest guys I know! They'll forget about it as soon as they see you all together as a couple. I promise." She says.

"Thanks, Em. I actually have to go now. Can all of us meet during the break and hangout in rosewood?" I ask.

"Of course. See you in rosewood." She says.

"See you. Okay. Bye." I hang up. Ezra's walked in the door, holding a box of pizza.

"Hey," I say, kissing his cheek.

"I'm starving!" I say once we get a slice.

"Me too," he laughs.

"How did everything go?" I ask.

"It was good. Really good." He smiles.

"That's great." I say.

We eat our pizza while we watch a black and white movie on our tv. That's kind of been our tradition ever since we met. I love it. That I have someone like him. My other old boyfriends never liked the same kind of stuff than me. Even though I met Ezra when I was 16, I guess I've only had one other boyfriend than Ezra, in Iceland. That's strange, considering some kids who date someone end up breaking up with them and end up marrying somebody different than they spent high school dating. Not me. I'm one hundred percent positive Ezra's my soulmate. He knows it too.

We end the night cuddling and we fall asleep since we've had such a long day.

** By the way, how old do you all think I am? I don't think I've said it yet. Guess in the reviews. I'm curious about what you think based on the way I write. Thank you!**


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